A Legend Dies
by IronBat064
Summary: Ryan Thompson is a straight-A student at Central City High School. But secretly, he's the Iron Bat. When his father dies on the battlefield, how will he move on? How will his friends help him through the process of loss? Will the Justice League capture the man responsible? ON HIATUS.
1. Another Kidnapping

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Young Justice or anything associated with it. I own nothing but this story. This story includes my original characters, Devin Thompson, the Iron Legend, and Ryan Thompson, the Iron Bat.**

* * *

 _Recognized. Iron Legend 1-8. Iron Bat B-0-6._

Ryan has just walked into the cave with his father, Devin. They have just gotten back from a long day in Central City. Ryan's had homework and Devin's had regular work. When they finished, they decided to go to the cave.

"Hey, Ryan!" Kid Flash speeds over to the father and son after hearing them announced.

"Hey, Wally!" Ryan says as he high-fives the speedster.

 _Recognized. Zatara 1-1. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3._

Giovanni and his daughter, Zatanna, walk out of the zeta tube. They stop to greet the group in front of them.

"Devin, it's been a while. How have you been?" Giovanni asks Devin.

"Busy. Mr. Wayne is asking a lot out of me. But, I'll manage. How have you been?" Devin asks in reply.

"Well, raising a daughter and saving the world from constant threats isn't the easiest thing, but like you said, I'll manage." The magician says.

"Hey, Zatanna." Ryan says.

"Hi, Ryan, Wally." Zatanna replies.

"Hmph!" Wally greets Zatanna with a mouth full of food. Zatanna and Ryan both laugh.

"Hey, Zee!" Robin walks into the room.

"Hey Robin." The magician's daughter replies, blushing all of a sudden.

"So, what brings you to the cave?" The boy wonder asks.

Zatanna leans in to whisper. So do the rest of the group. "I was hoping maybe you guys could kidnap me again."

"That can be arranged." Robin smirks.

Zatanna giggles. Then Giovanni walks over. "I don't think so. I'm not letting her out of my sight this time!" Zatara says.

"Aw. Come on, Dad!" Zatanna says.

Giovanni shakes his head. "After the stunt you pulled the last time you were here, though it produced results, I'm not sure I can trust you around them."

"I promise Dad, this time, we're just going to have fun. We don't have a missing android to look for this time!" Zatanna says.

"Yeah! We promise we won't leave Happy Harbor!" Robin says. Ryan and Wally agree.

Zatara takes a moment to think. "Fine. But be back in the cave by six o'clock!"

"Thank you, Dad!" Zatanna hugs her father and then runs to find the rest of the team. Robin and Wally follow. Ryan looks at Giovanni and shrugs. He presses a button on his belt which makes his Iron Batsuit form around him. He flies over to follow his friends.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Artemis says, after hearing that they're 'kidnapping' Zatanna again.

"Actually, I think we did the whole 'kidnapping' thing wrong last time." Ryan explains.

"What did we do wrong?" Zatanna asks, a little worried and a little excited at the same time.

"I'm pretty sure it's not technically called kidnapping unless the kidnapee gets tied up." Ryan says with a smirk.

"He's right." Robin says, with an even bigger smirk.

"Well then…" Zatanna begins. " _Evig su sepor!"_ Ropes appear in front of her. She puts her hands behind her back. "Tie me up!"

The team gets to work, tying the girl up. Zatanna seems to enjoy it, somehow, and is laughing the whole time. She'll even use her magic to make a binding tighter, or " _Rethgit,"_ if she thinks she can get out of it. When they're done, Zatanna is in a tie that's impossible to get out of.

"I think we're forgetting something." Wally says.

"I know what we're missing." Ryan says. "Zatanna, can you give me some duct tape?"

" _Evig mih tcud epat!"_ A roll of duct tape appears in Ryan's hand. He goes to gag the poor damsel when Robin stops him.

"There's one thing I wanna do that would make this totally asterous!" The boy wonder says. He walks over to the damsel, who has no idea what the boy means. He stops in front of her and plants his lips on hers. He kisses her passionately, and the poor girl can't do anything to stop him. The group just stares at them. When Robin finally stops and walks away, Zatanna is taken so aback that she can't even speak for about five seconds.

"Wait, Robin, what was tha- mmmmph!" Zatanna tries to ask her question, but Ryan puts duct tape over her mouth before she can finish. Ryan then picks the damsel up and carries her onto the bioship. Everyone follows and they take flight.

* * *

 **That's chapter One! Please leave a review. There's more to come! :)**


	2. Joyride

**Note:** _ **Italics**_ **means mind link talk or spell casting**

* * *

"So, let's see. We have the captive," Artemis motions her head at Zatanna, who is still tied up. "we have our getaway vehicle," she motions her hands around her. "why does it feel like we're missing something?"

"We're lacking in purpose." Kaldur says. "We've 'kidnapped' Zatanna for no reason at all."

"He's right." Conner says. "What should we do with her?"

"I'm kinda liking Robin's idea." Wally says. Zatanna and Artemis both roll their eyes.

"Really?" Ryan says. Then he grins. "M'gann establish a mind link with everyone except our captive."

 _Link establish-_

Everyone gives Wally a dirty look.

 _What?_ He asks.

 _We heard what you were thinking!_ Artemis says.

 _And now that image is stuck in all of our heads!_ Robin says.

 _Sorry._ Wally shrugs.

 _Anyway, I have an idea._ Ryan says.

In the meantime, Zatanna has no idea what her captors are discussing. She can only hope it doesn't have anything to do with taking advantage of her body.

Her captors come out of their discussion and a harness from the bioship forms around Zatanna. Then a hole in the floor forms under the damsel. She falls through it and is being held up in the sky by the harness that formed around her.

"MMMMMMPH! MMMMMPH! MMMMMMMMMMPH!" She tries to tell her 'friends' to bring her back up, but she's still gagged.

The rest of them strap into their seats. Ryan nods at M'gann, who nods back and makes the Bioship fly a lot faster. She does a few loop-de-loops and twists.

After a bit, Ryan nods again, not wanting Zatanna to curse them. M'gann slows down and brings their captive back up. Ryan walks over to Zatanna and takes the gag off.

"Jerks! The whole lot of you!" Zatanna says. Everyone laughs.

"If I remember correctly, you're the one who wanted us to kidnap you." Robin notes.

Zatanna opens her mouth to make a comeback, then says. "Alright, you got me there. Now, can you untie me? I don't want to be kidnapped anymore."

"I'm sorry, but you're not really in a position to be making demands." Ryan says.

" _Eitnu e-_ mmmmmmph!" Ryan gags her again before she can cast the spell.

"Incoming broadcast from your father, Ryan." M'gann says.

"Put it through." Ryan says.

A holographic screen appears. The Iron Legend is on it. "Get back to the cave." Devin says, who then notices Zatanna tied up. "She agreed to that, right?"

"Yep!" Ryan says.

"Okay, I'll make sure Giovanni doesn't find out." Devin says. "Iron Legend out." The screen disappears.

"Well, you heard the man, M'gann. Take us back to the cave." Robin says.

"On it!" M'gann flies the Bioship back to the cave.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Thanks for reading! I'll try to have the next one out by tonight! If not, tomorrow. But, you know, life and school happen, so who knows?**


	3. The Death of a Legend

**WARNING: This chapter contains death. Read at your own risk.**

* * *

The group of friends arrive at the cave. Before getting off the Bioship, Ryan takes Zatanna's gag off.

" _Eitnu em!"_ The ropes become undone and Zatanna is free. "That was actually kinda fun, being tied up. I don't know why."

"Can you get rid of the evidence?" Ryan asks.

" _Ekat rieht sepor yawa!"_ The ropes disappear.

"Thanks." Ryan says. The group of friends gets off the Bioship and heads back to the TV room. Ryan and Zatanna go to look for their fathers. They find them by the zeta tubes.

"Dad? What's going on, why'd you call us back here?" Ryan asks.

"Because I want to make sure you don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Devin says.

Ryan puts his hand on his chest. "Me? Do something stupid? I'm insulted!"

Devin gives a small chuckle. "Zatara and I are headed out on a mission. It's just a simple mission, we shouldn't be long. But don't get yourselves into trouble."

"And make sure my daughter doesn't do anything stupid, either. I know how she can get around the rest of your team." Giovanni says.

Ryan salutes him. "Sir, yes sir!" Giovanni smiles.

 _Recognized. Zatara 1-1. Iron Legend 1-8._

Ryan looks to Zatanna and smiles. She smiles back. They've been friends since way back. They'd spent a good part of their childhood together. "So, about that kiss…"

"Shut up!" Zatanna laughs. Ryan smiles.

"This conversation isn't over, little lady!" Ryan pretends to be her father.

"You do a horrible Giovanni Zatara." Zatanna giggles.

* * *

About two hours later, Devin and Zatara are fighting an enemy unlike any other. Stronger than any opponent they'd ever faced together before. It is a beast of unknown origins. A rampaging monster that, if not stopped, could destroy an entire city in a matter of seconds. Help is on its way, but won't arrive for another ten minutes.

" _Ezeerf siht tsaeb!"_ Zatara casts a freezing spell that has no effect on the creature.

The Iron Legend flies up to the beast to blast it, but the beast claws at him, leaving a huge hole in his chest. He falls to the ground and Giovanni runs over to him.

" _Reirrab!"_ An impenetrable barrier forms around the two men. " _Laeh!"_ Zatara tries to heal him, but it doesn't work. Blood is pouring out of the wound. Giovanni spots a huge shard of nth metal iron in the wound.

"I'm really regretting making this suit out of nth metal right now." Devin says.

"How close is help?! Iron Legend is down!" Zatara says.

"Three minutes away." The Flash says, starting to run even faster.

"Not good enough!" Zatara says. Devin reaches his hand out.

"Giovanni." Devin says, struggling to get his message through.

"Don't speak. You're going to be alright." Zatara lies.

"We both know that's not true." The dying man says with a small chuckle. "I have one final request."

"What? Anything. You name it!" Giovanni says, struggling to keep the man alive.

"Adopt my son. Make sure he lives longer than I did. But, if he wishes, let him stay on the team. Tell him I love him." Devin says. His voice starts to trail off.

"No. No! NO! NOOOOOO!" Giovanni shakes the body of his old friend. He checks for a pulse, to no avail. He then places the body on the ground and shuts the man's eyes. He stands up and The Flash arrives with Superman and Wonder Woman. They see the body and immediately begin to feel rage surging through them. They attack the beast relentlessly. Zatara joins them. "FOR DEVIN!"

It takes hours but they finally kill the monster. Giovanni walks over to where Devin's body is. He picks the body up and hands it to the Green Lantern (John Stewart) who just arrived. The lantern flies them back to the nearest zeta tube.

 _How am I going to break the news to Ryan?_ That question is the only thing on Giovanni's mind.

* * *

 **I'll write the next chapter tomorrow. BYE!**


	4. Definitely DIS-traught

_Recognized. Zatara 1-1. Superman 0-1._

Superman and Giovanni walk out of the zeta tube with grim looks on their faces. Everyone but Ryan is already in that room. They see that Devin isn't there and the grim looks on their elders' faces. Grim looks crawl onto their own faces. Ryan walks in, smiling.

"Hey, where's my dad?" He asks.

"Ryan…" Zatara starts.

Ryan stops smiling. He steps back. "N-N-No. No. No. No!"

Giovanni takes his hat off. "Ryan, I'm sorry. I-I tried to save him. He died a hero."

Tears start pouring out of Ryan's eyes. Zatanna, who had been like a sister to Ryan, goes over and hugs him. "H-He said it'd be a simple mission." Ryan says, almost inaudible under his crying.

He continues to cry for another minute or so, then he's able to pull himself together. By this point, Zatanna has let go. "What happened?" He asks.

Zatara explains how they arrived at the location and everything seemed normal. "We started looking around and then, out of nowhere, a beast appeared. It attacked, so we did what any hero would do, we fought back. It turned out to be stronger than we expected. We called for backup. We continued to fight until help arrived, but the beast put a hole in your father's chest. I-I tried healing the wound, but his armor was made of nth metal iron, and there was a huge chunk of it in the wound."

Ryan gives a small chuckle. "That's my dad for you. Prepared for almost everything." He sighs. "If only he wasn't."

"The League is making preparations for the funeral as we speak. He died a hero, and he'll be buried as one. I promise." Superman informs the sad orphan.

"Thank you." Ryan says.

"He said he wanted me to adopt you." Giovanni says."

Ryan smiles. "That'd be nice, if it's not too much trouble. I'd hate to impose."

Giovanni laughs a bit. "Not at all."

Ryan smiles. "Thank you so much. I know you tried your best to save my dad. I can't ask much more of you."

All Giovanni can do is smile back and say "After all your father has done for my daughter and I, it's the least I can do."

"Can I see him?" Ryan asks.

Giovanni nods.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed! I'll try to get another chapter out by tonight. Maybe two, if fate permits.**


	5. What Friends are for

_Recognized. Zatara 1-1._

"Override. Zatara 1-1." Giovanni says.

 _Access Granted. Iron Bat B-0-6. Zatanna Zatara A-0_ _-3. Robin B-0-1. Aqualad B-0-2. Kid Flash B-0-3. Superboy B-0-4. Miss Martian B-0-5. Artemis B-0-8. Authorization: Zatara 1-1._

The team walks out of the zeta tube and into the Watchtower. "Wow. Roy wasn't kidding! This place is awesome!" Wally says.

"We didn't come here for a tour, Wally." Ryan says.

The group of friends walk to a room covered in flowers and pictures of Devin. Devin's body is in a coffin. "Could-Could I have a moment alone?" Ryan asks.

"Take all the time you need." Kaldur says. Ryan drops to his knees. His friends leave the room except for Zatanna, who places a hand on his shoulder and a kiss on his head. She then walks out of the room. Ryan starts crying again.

After about an hour, Ryan walks out of the room and heads out to find his friends. He finds them in the main lobby of the Watchtower. Wally speeds over to him. "Hey, I can't possibly imagine what you're going through, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here." He says.

"We all are." Robin says.

"Thanks, you guys. It really means alot to me." Ryan smiles.

They all smile back. Giovanni walks over. "How about we head over to city hall? Gotta get those papers signed at some point."

The orphan smiles and agrees.

 _Recognized. Zatara 1-1. Iron Bat B-0-6. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3._

* * *

 **That's the chapter my friends! Sorry it was so short! There wasn't much else I could think of. I'll have the next chapter, which is going to be a series of flashbacks, should be out sometime tomorrow.**


	6. Remembering the Dead

**Note: I'm not completely sure if the Justice League was real fifteen years before the Young Justice team, but if it wasn't, let's just pretend it was. :)**

* * *

 _Fifteen years ago_

Zatara was on a mission in Central City with the Flash. He was searching for a missing scientist. The scientist had disappeared after an explosion in his lab about a month before. The scientist had been working on a new energy source: an arc reactor. The League had detected trace amounts of arc energy at the site in Central City that the two heroes had been searching, which was rubble from a demolished building.

"Nothing on my side!" The speedster reports. "How about you?"

"Still looking, but nothing so far." Zatara says. He then notices a faint blue glow. "Wait, I may have found something." He lowers himself to the ground. " _Tfil siht elbbur!"_ Zatara uses his magic to lift the rubble covering the glow. He sees a man - the scientist - with whatever was glowing - the arc reactor - inside his chest. "Flash, get over here!" Zatara says.

Jay speeds over and sees the scientist. "Whoa." He goes to check for a pulse. "Weird. He's alive."

"Interesting." Zatara says. " _Ekat siht nam ot eht rewothctaw!"_ The magician warps the scientist to the Watchtower. "Zatara to Watchtower. We found the scientist. He's still alive. I don't think a regular hospital is going to be able to help him, though. The energy source he was working on when the lab exploded is stuck in his chest. I sent him to the Watchtower for help." Zatara says over the comms.

"Acknowledged, Zatara. We'll do what we can." J'onn responds.

About a day later, the scientist woke up. Zatara was standing there, checking his vitals. When he notices, Zatara says "Good, you're awake."

"Ugh… how long have I been out? My head hurts like hell." The scientist says.

"Depends, what's the last thing you can remember?" Zatara says.

"I was working on the arc reactor when one of my employees came running into the room and yelled 'The centrifuge is leaking!' I ran into the room to see the centrifuge leaking a dangerous chemical. The chemical lit on fire. I ordered the building to be evacuated. I ran back to my workspace to get the arc reactor out of the building. I didn't want to risk causing a larger explosion. But before I was able to put it in its protective case, the place exploded. Then… nothing." The scientist explains.

"Then I'd say you've been unconscious for about… a month." The magician says.

"Oh… that explains why I'm starving." The scientist says.

"What's your name?" Zatara asks.

"Devin. Devin Thompson." The scientist says.

"Well, Devin. Don't be alarmed, but look at your chest." Zatara says.

Devin does this and doesn't seem too alarmed by what he sees - the arc reactor stuck in his chest. "I don't suppose you tried to take this thing out."

"We tried. The reactor seems to be powering your heart." Zatara explains. "Meaning if we take it out, your heart will stop. You need it to survive. The radiation was killing you, though, so Batman was kind enough to jump right in and produce a protective shell around the reactor so that the radiation doesn't affect you."

"Only Batman would be smart enough to know that, wouldn't he?" Devin chuckles to himself.

"You'll be back on your feet in no time. We're bringing in some doctors from the land to check on you, make sure you can rehabilitate properly." Zatara says.

"Wait, 'from the land?' What do you mean 'from the land?'" Devin asks.

"We're in space." Zatara says.

"Oh… well… I have mixed feelings about this." Devin says, half joking, half serious.

* * *

Five years later, Zatara is at home, taking care of his daughter, when he hears a 'boom' outside.

"Daddy, what was that?" A four-year-old Zatanna asks.

"I'll go look, sweetie. Promise me you'll stay here?" Zatara asks. Zatanna nods. The father smiles and runs out the door. He sees a giant robot destroying Central City, which is in chaos. He goes to attack the robot when another, smaller robot, or at least he thinks it's a robot, flies in and attacks the bigger one. The smaller one starts flying around the big one, shooting at it and doing damage. The small one is able to easily dodge the big one's attacks, countering them. The small one then does enough damage to deal the final blow. A blast of energy surges from the small one's chest, destroying the bigger one on contact. During the battle, Giovanni was protecting civilians from the falling debris and the big one's feet. The small one - who was now the _only_ one - landed on the ground and looked at its work.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall." He - Giovanni had now decided that it was a person inside a robotic suit - says. Giovanni walks over to him.

"HEY! YOU!" Giovanni yells. The man in the suit turns to face the magician. "Watch where you fight! You could've killed all of those innocent civilians!"

"You're right. I could've." The man says. "That is, if you hadn't been there."

"Who are you anyway?" Giovanni asks.

"I am the Iron Legend. And I think I'd like to continue this conversation somewhere else." The Iron Legend says.

The two men walk over into an alleyway. "The League isn't going to be happy with you." Zatara says.

"I knew you had my back, Giovanni, just like you did two years ago." The Iron Legend says. He takes his helmet off, revealing the face of the scientist Giovanni had rescued from the rubble five years before.

"Devin?!" Giovanni asks in shock.

"Yep! It's me!" Devin says, smiling.

* * *

One year later, there's a knock at Giovanni's door. He goes to open it. Devin is standing there, in the doorway, with a child, a boy. "Hey, Giovanni. I brought my son, Ryan. He's been bugging me about meeting you and your daughter. I hope you don't mind." Devin says.

Giovanni smiles. "No! I don't mind at all! Please, come in! Come in!"

His two guests walk through the door. Zatanna, who is now five-years-old, walks in the room. She smiles when she sees Devin, who smiles back. When she sees Ryan, who is six years old, she walks over to him and waves. "M'i Annataz!" She says. Ryan lifts an eyebrow at her, then looks to her father, who chuckles.

"She's practicing her backwards speaking. This way, she can learn to cast spells." Giovanni explains. He then looks to his daughter. "Sweetie, can you start talking frontwards now? Our guests can't understand you when you talk backwards like that."

Zatanna nods and waves again. "I'm Zatanna." She says. "Who are you?"

Ryan waves back. "I'm Ryan." He says.

Zatanna giggles. "Ryan… I like that name."

"You have a nice name, too, Zatanna." Ryan says.

"Thank you." She giggles again. "Wanna see a magic trick?"

"Do I ever?!" Ryan says.

"Follow me!" Zatanna says, motioning him to follow. He follows.

Devin chuckles. "Children. Don't you miss being that young?"

"Who doesn't?" Giovanni asks.

* * *

Two years after that, Giovanni is in a financial ditch, let us call it. He had little money and little ways to earn it.

He's in the Watchtower.

 _Recognized. Iron Legend 1-8._

Devin walks over to Giovanni and greets him happily. He doesn't get such a happy greeting in return.

"What's wrong, Giovanni?" Devin asks him.

The magician sighs. "I'm in a financial rut. I'm out of money and out of ways to earn it! If I don't get a good amount of money quickly, I fear I might not be able to raise Zatanna."

"Well, why didn't you just ask me?! I'd've been happy to lend you some money! How much do you need?" Devin asks.

"What?! No! No. I couldn't possibly take money from you!" Zatara says, surprise on his face.

"I insist. I get a large salary as it is. I'm practically sitting in cash. I need to get rid of some of it!" Devin says, joking.

The magician laughs. "Are you sure? I'd hate to impose!"

"Giovanni, you saved my life five years ago. This is the least I can do!" Devin says, taking out his checkbook.

"Okay! Okay. I'll take your money!" Zatara laughs. "I need at least five hundred thirty dollars."

"Six hundred fifty dollars it is!" Devin says, filling out the check.

"What?! I said five hundred thirty!" The magician is surprised by how much money the man is giving him.

"Well, what are friends for?" Devin points out.

* * *

 **And that's the chapter! YAY! Another long one! The next chapter will also be flashbacks, but it will be Ryan and Zatanna, rather than Devin and Giovanni. It'll be out sometime tomorrow. Sorry for the slower uploading rate. I started this on a weekend, so I didn't have school, but now I do. :(**


	7. Remembering the Living

**Note: * means look at the bottom of the page if you want to read Devin's conversation with Zatara.**

 **Note: Ryan is just about a year older than Zatanna.**

 **Note: ARIAS stands for A Rather Intelligent, Amazing System**

* * *

 _Nine years before the team_

When the two children reach her room, Zatanna closes the door behind them. "Raeppsid!" The blanket on her bed disappears.

"Whoa!" Ryan is awestruck.

"That's not all!" Zatanna smiles. "Raeppaer!" The blanket reappears above Ryan's head. It falls and covers him. Zatanna giggles.

Ryan struggles a bit to get it off of him. "Funny, ha ha." He says. Zatanna giggles again.

"A little bit, yes, it is." She smiles. Ryan smiles back and laughs.

* * *

One year later, Ryan is walking around Central City with his father, when they both hear a girl screaming. They both run towards the source of the scream. They arrive at an alleyway to see a man with a gun to a six-year-old Zatanna's head. Zatara is nowhere to be seen. "Scream all you want, little girl. You're not getting any help." The man says. Ryan pulls out a slingshot he made and slings a pebble at the man's head. Direct hit. The man turns to see Ryan sticking his tongue out at him. The man runs after Ryan, but stops when he is grabbed by the Iron Legend.

"How 'bout you pick on someone your own size?" The Iron Legend says. He then fires a repulsor beam at the criminal's head, knocking him out.

Ryan runs over to Zatanna. "Hey, are you okay, Zatanna?" He asks, worried.

"Now that you're here, I'm fine. Thanks for doing that." She smiles.

"Zatara. This is Iron Legend. We found your daughter." Devin says over the comms.*

"No problem! What are you doing out here without your dad?" Ryan asks Zatanna.

"Well, my dad is at the Watchtower, so he can't watch me, so Doctor Fate, or Kent Nelson rather, is babysitting me." Zatanna explains.

"Wouldn't he have noticed?" Ryan asks.

Zatanna just giggles and steps back. "Etacilpud!" A second Zatanna appears out of thin air.

"Whoa!" Ryan is astounded.

The fake one disappears. The real one steps toward Ryan. "Cool, right?" She says.

Ryan just nods. Zatanna giggles.

"Alright, you two! Get over here!" Devin calls. The two children walk over to the adult.

"What is it, Dad?" Ryan asks

"We're taking Zatanna back to our house. Kent was needed at the Watchtower, and nobody else is available to watch her. So, her father asked me if we could watch her. I said yes." Devin explains to the children.

"ARIAS, unlock the door." Devin commands when they arrive at the house.

"Of course, sir" A British female voice responds.

The group walks into the house and heads into a small library. Devin walks over to a wall that doesn't have a bookshelf on it and he places his hand on it. All of a sudden, a panel appears and scans his hand.

 _Recognized. Iron Legend 1-8._

The panel disappears as a bookshelf moves out of the way, revealing an elevator. Devin walks into the elevator. "I have some work to do, keep each other company." He says. Both children nod. "ARIAS, make sure Zatanna doesn't try anything." Devin commands.

"I shall keep an endless vigil on her, sir." ARIAS says.

"Good. You two have fun, now." Devin says. The elevator closes and the bookshelf goes back in place.

"So, whatcha wanna do?" Zatanna asks Ryan.

"Watch TV, I guess." Ryan says.

"Okay." Zatanna says. The two children walk to the TV room and sit on the couch.

"ARIAS, put on Cartoon Network." Ryan says. The TV turns on and is set to Cartoon Network.

"Your father was able to fit ARIAS into the entire house?" Zatanna asks.

"Yes indeed." Ryan says. "ARIAS controls pretty much everything in this house, if it's electronic, at least."

"That's pretty impressive." The girl says.

* * *

Four years later, an eleven-year-old Ryan is home alone, reading. His father is at the Watchtower, working on a few things. There's a knock at the door. "It's Zatanna, sir." ARIAS says.

"Let her in, then lock the door behind her." Ryan says.

Zatanna opens the door and walks in. She closes the door with a loud slam that startles Ryan, causing him to drop his book. She giggles. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine." Ryan says, leaning over to pick the book up again.

"So, whatcha doin'?" Zatanna asks.

"Well, I was reading, but now I'm talking to you." Ryan smiles. Zatanna smiles back. "So, why'd you come over?"

"I got bored and decided I wanted to see you." Zatanna says.

"Well, you've come to the right place!" Ryan jokes. Zatanna giggles.

"I sure hope so." She says.

"Well, what do you wanna do?" Ryan asks.

"I don't really know. I guess I just wanna talk." Zatanna says.

"Well then." Ryan pats the seat next to him. "Come sit. I won't bite."

Zatanna laughs. She walks over to the couch and sits next to Ryan. "I'm also kinda tired." She explains.

"Lie down. I don't mind." Ryan says.

"Okay." Zatanna says. She lays her head on Ryan's lap and closes her eyes.

Surprised, for this is not what he meant when he told her to lie down, Ryan widened his eyes, then brought them back down. He accepted this, but didn't really know what to do, so he just sat there with her head in his lap.

* * *

Two years later, a thirteen-year-old Ryan is walking around Central City alone, when he passes Zatanna. "Hey, Zatanna. What's up?" He asks. They both stop.

"Oh, nothing much. Just school, homework, stuff like that." She says. It takes him a moment, but Ryan realizes that Zatanna is blushing.

"Yeah, me too." He says.

"Hey, are you doing anything later?" The girl asks.

"No, why?" Ryan asks, being a little cautious.

"I was just thinking that maybe I'd stop by." Zatanna says.

"Sure, that'd be great." Ryan smiles.

She smiles back. "Great! See ya later!"

"See ya!" Ryan says. They both continue their walks.

Later that evening, there's a knock on the door. "It's Zatanna." ARIAS says.

"Thank you ARIAS." Ryan says. He walks to the door and opens it for Zatanna.

"Hey, what's up." Zatanna says, blushing, again.

"Not much. How about you?" Ryan says.

"Not much." She walks inside.

"So, why'd you wanna come over?" Ryan asks, a little afraid of what the answer might be.

"Actually…" She starts. "I came because of you."

"O-Of me?" That was one of the answers he was afraid of.

"Yeah. I-I don't know what it is. Maybe it's how long I've known you, maybe it's that you've always been there for me, maybe it's all of the above. But… there's something about you that just makes me want to be with you." Zatanna says, blushing even more.

"Be… be with me?" Ryan knows what she means, but he asks the question anyway.

"Yeah… I don't know why. Can we go to your room? I promise, I'm not going to try to… well, you know." Zatanna asks.

"Yeah, I guess." Ryan shrugs. The two start heading towards his room. Once inside, Ryan closes the door.

"Ssik em!" Zatanna calls out.

Suddenly, Ryan feels a strong urge to kiss Zatanna. He laughs. "No fair!" He says as he walks over to the girl.

She laughs. "Why know how to use it if you're not going to use it?"

Ryan plants his lips on Zatanna's and the two start kissing passionately. After they finish kissing, Zatanna smiles. "Don't tell me you don't want me, now."

Ryan laughs. "I can't." He kisses her again.

* * *

A year later, the Iron Legend is flying around with his new partner, the Iron Bat. "Sirs, the Zataras are in a fight with Captain Cold and Weather Wizard over on Third and Main. They look like they could use some help." ARIAS says.

"Thanks for the update, ARIAS." Devin says. "Let's go!"

The two fly over to the intersection at Third and Main. Zatara and Zatanna are both frozen in ice. "ARIAS wasn't kidding!" The Iron Bat says. "Hey! Cold! Wizard! How about you try to freeze us?!" Iron Legend looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Today's not my best day." Iron Bat says, referring to the taunt.

Cold fires his cold gun at the two heroes. They both dodge and fire back. Cold is blown back and crashes into a store window. Weather Wizard sends a lightning bolt at Iron Bat. "Power at 300% capacity, sir." ARIAS says.

"Thanks for the power boost!" Iron Bat says to Wizard. He fires both repulsors and sends Weather Wizard flying. The iron men land and make sure the two criminals are restrained. They then walk over to the frozen magicians. "I don't suppose you have a flamethrower in that suit of yours." Iron Bat says.

"Nope." Iron Legend says. "Iron Legend to Watchtower. Zatara and his daughter are frozen in ice. We could use some help getting them out of it without shattering them." Devin says over the comms.

"I'll be there soon. Hang tight." Superman says.

"Got it." Devin says. "Superman's on his way."

"Yes!" Ryan, who has now retracted his visor and is now fourteen-years-old, says, excited to meet the famed Man of Steel.

When Superman arrives, he notices Ryan. "You got your son in on the crime-fighting business, now, Devin? That seems a little dangerous." Clark says.

"He wouldn't stop begging me. He made a point that he know how the tech in my suit worked. I just couldn't take it anymore. Besides, he can handle himself. He's proven that." Devin says.

Superman nods and turns to Ryan. "Well, as you can tell, I'm Superman. Who would you be?" Clark says, extending his hand.

Ryan shakes the Kryptonian's hand. "Ryan Thompson. Iron Bat." He says.

"You like Batman, do you?" Clark asks.

"He is Batman." Ryan points out.

Clark laughs. "That he is. Now, I don't think I came here for introductions." He walks over to the frozen magicians. He uses his heat vision to melt the ice and free the two cold captives. Ryan walks over to Zatanna.

"You okay, Zatanna?" He asks.

"Now that you're here, I'm fine. Freezing, but fine." She says, attempting to laugh, but too cold to do so.

"How about I warm you up?" Ryan asks. He makes sure no civilians are watching before telling ARIAS to take his suit off. His suit retracts into a metal belt that looks like a regular belt. He's wearing jeans and a tee-shirt. He hugs Zatanna.

She smiles. "That's much better. Thanks." She says. She kisses him on the cheek.

Ryan smiles. "For you, anything." He says.

* * *

The next year, after the team and Zatanna return to the cave after finding Red Tornado and stopping Red Volcano, a now fifteen-year-old Ryan pulls Zatanna aside.

"Ryan what is this about?" Zatanna asks.

"It's about… us." Ryan says.

"What about us?" She asks.

"I don't think we can be together anymore." Ryan says.

"What?! Why not?" She asks, surprised at his statement.

"I've seen the way you act around Robin. You blush more, you almost stutter, and your body temperature rises." Ryan explains. "If there's something you want to tell me, you'd better do it now."

Zatanna sighs. "You're right. I'm in love with Robin." She says.

Ryan places a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I understand." He says.

"You do?!" She asks.

"Yes, I do." Ryan smiles. "And remember, no matter what, you will always have a place in my heart."

"Still friends?" She asks.

"Still friends." Ryan says. "Now, go to him. Something tells me that you'll need him when you face your father." He points to Robin.

Zatanna smiles and quickly hugs him, then runs over to Robin. Ryan smiles.

* * *

*(Conversation continued)

"What?! I thought she was at home!" Giovanni says.

"Well she's right in front of me!" Devin says.

"I thought Kent was babysitting her." Zatara says.

"Kent being…" Devin starts.

"Kent Nelson." Giovanni says.

"I'll contact him." Devin says. "Kent, this is Iron Legend. Come in."

"I'm here." Kent says. "What is it?"

"You're babysitting Zatanna, correct?" Devin says.

"Yes, in fact, she's right in front of me." Kent says.

"She must've used a duplicate spell to sneak out of the house." Giovanni says. "Devin, can you take her back to my house? Kent can take it from- wait… actually, Kent, we need Doctor Fate at the Watchtower."

"On my way." Kent says.

"Okay then, so, Devin. Can you take Zatanna to your house?" Giovanni asks.

"Not a problem." Devin says.

* * *

 **That's the chapter folks! Another long one! Whew! The next one will be back in the present. No more flashbacks, for now at least. The next chapter will be out by tonight at best.**


	8. Secret Doors

_Back in the present_

Giovanni has already taken Ryan to City Hall and become his legal guardian. Zatanna had decided to come along as well. They then went to the Zatara home.

They established that what was once the guest room is now his room. He got settled in and decided that the walls were going to need to be painted. But that's a task for later. For now, he's headed back to his old house to retrieve his stuff.

He flies over there in his Iron Batsuit. When he arrives, he sees that Wally and Conner are already there, trying to figure out how to get in. "Are you guys trying to break into my house?" He asks.

"What?! No!" Wally says, clearly nervous.

"We're not?" Conner asks.

Ryan just smirks and gives Wally a tell-me-everything-or-I'll-blast-you-into-next-week look.

Wally sighs. "Fine, we were trying to get into your house to get your stuff for you so that you didn't have to go back here. We thought this place might bring back sad memories." He explains.

"Very thoughtful of you, but there was no way you were going to get in. Not without tripping an alarm, at least." Ryan says.

"Where do you keep your spare key, anyway?" The redhead asks.

"We don't exactly use keys." Ryan explains. "ARIAS, unlock the door."

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says. Ryan opens the door.

"To da!" He smirks.

"Shut up." Wally says.

The three walk into the house. Ryan walks over to the coffee table and picks up a picture of him, his dad, and Bruce Wayne at Wayne Tower. He smiles and pockets the picture. He heads to his room and gathers his stuff. He then remembers an important detail: Wally's going to eat all the food if he doesn't stop him. He runs to the kitchen to find an empty refrigerator. "Really, Wally?!"

"I couldn't help it! When a guy's got a hyper-sped metabolism, he's gotta eat!"

Ryan just shakes his head and closes the refrigerator. "Conner, how are you doing?!" Ryan asks. No response. "Conner?!"

Ryan walks around the house and finds him in the living room, looking through the photo albums.

"What's up?" Ryan asks.

"You and your father spent a lot of time together. I wish Superman would spend time with me." Conner says.

"He'll warm up to you." Ryan holds back a frown when Conner mentions his father. "I know it." Ryan heads over to the library. Wally speeds in there, too. Ryan places hand on the wall. The panel appears and scans his hand.

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6._

The bookshelf moves and the elevator opens. Ryan walks into the elevator. Wally is intrigued and walks in after him.

 _Recognized. Kid Flash B-0-3._

"ARIAS, hold the elevator. Conner! Get over here!" Ryan says.

Conner puts the photo albums back and walks into the elevator.

 _Recognized. Superboy B-0-4._

The elevator doors close and the elevator lowers. When the doors open, there is a laboratory full of tech made for and by the iron men. The three of them walk into the room. "I will personally see to it that the both of you don't live to see twenty if you break anything." Ryan says. The two super-powered teens make a note of that.

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" Ryan repeats as he searches for something. "Aha! There it is!" Ryan picks up a remote. He presses one of the buttons and another secret door opens.

"What was it with your father and secret doors?" Wally asks.

"No idea." Ryan says. They walk into the hall of armors. Ryan walks over to one of the armors and presses the button on the belt. The suit retracts into a regular belt. Ryan grabs it and puts it in his backpack.

"What's that for?" Conner asks.

"The memorial." Ryan says. He walks out of the room. "I'm heading back to the cave." The other two follow.

* * *

 **Finished! Yay! Today's Friday! Yay! Weekend! Yay! Winter break in a few days! Yay! Lots of free time! Yay!**

 **Please review, favorite, and follow!**

 **I should have the next chapter out by tonight, if not, tomorrow.**


	9. Friends in High Places

_Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Kid Flash B-0-3. Superboy B-0-4._

The three teens walk out of the zeta tube and into the cave.

"Ryan!" Black Canary walks into the room. She does the _come over here_ motion with her finger. Ryan heads over to see her.

"What is it?" Ryan asks.

"Therapy session." Canary says. "Come on."

They walk into the therapy room. Dinah sits in one chair and Ryan sits in the other one.

"So, how have the last few hours been?" Dinah asks.

Ryan sighs. "Where do I start?" He thinks for a moment. "I've been… wondering… what if it was me… instead of him?"

"If it were you, your father wouldn't be able to live with himself."

"True as that may be, I still can't help but wonder."

"Don't, it won't do you any good."

"I know, but still… I just - you're right, I'll start thinking of something else."

"Good."

A pause.

Ryan sighs again. "He-He'd always be there for me. I never thought he'd fall in battle. But, now that he has… I-I don't know what to do."

"Well, I'm always here for you, and so are your friends."

"Thanks, Canary. I appreciate it." Ryan smiles.

"Not a problem." She smiles back, then looks at the clock. "Well, I think that concludes our session."

The two walk out of the room. Ryan heads over to the TV room to find M'gann, Artemis, and Zatanna in there with sorry looks on their faces. Ryan turns to leave. " _Yats!"_ Ryan stops and turns back around.

"Not fair! Not fair!" Ryan says with a laugh.

"Well, you were gonna leave, what was I supposed to do?" Zatanna says.

"What do you want?" Ryan says.

"We want to say we're sorry for your loss and that we're here for you." M'gann explains.

"We can't possibly know what you're going through, Ryan, but we we'll do whatever we can to help you through it." Artemis says.

"Thanks guys. I know that, and it won't go unappreciated." Ryan smiles.

Zatanna walks over and kisses his cheek. Ryan blushes, just barely, but they all seem to notice.

Giovanni walks in the room. "Zatanna! Ryan! Let's get home! It's getting late!" He says.

"Just give me a sec!" Ryan calls out.

The adoptive siblings say their goodbyes and Ryan heads out to find Canary. He finds her in the command center. "Canary!" He runs over to her, backpack on his back.

"Ryan, what is it?" Dinah asks.

"I forgot to give you this, for the memorial." He takes his father's armor belt out of his backpack and hands it to her.

"What… What is it?" She asks.

"It's my father's armor." Ryan explains. "It's in disguised form, so that he could wear it in public without people running up to him and asking for autographs. Just press the button on the buckle and it'll revert to armor form."

"That does make sense." Dinah says. "I'll make sure it gets to Superman for you."

"Thanks, Canary." Ryan smiles. He then heads over to the zeta tubes where his adoptive family is waiting.

 _Recognized. Zatara 1-1. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3. Iron Bat B-0-6._

They exit the zeta transporter in Central City.

 _Recognized. Kid Flash B-0-3. Flash 0-4._

The Uncle and Nephew exit the transporter and walk over to the other family.

"Hey, Ryan. I'm really sorry about what happened. I-I should be taking the blame. I wasn't fast enough." Barry apologizes for his mistake.

"I don't blame you, Barry, and you shouldn't blame yourself." Ryan says.

The speedster just smiles and speeds back to his house. Wally walks over. "I don't suppose I'll see you at school tomorrow, will I?"

"Probably not, but anything's possible." Ryan says.

Wally speeds over to his house. The rest of them walk over to their house.

"ARIAS, unlock the- wait, never mind." Ryan says, once they arrive at the house. The two magicians laugh.

" _Kcolnu eht rood!"_ Zatara uses his magic to unlock the door.

"That's going to take some getting used to." Ryan says.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it." Zatanna says.

Once inside, Ryan closes the door and turns on the TV. The news is on.

"Good evening, Central City. I am Iris West-Allen, bringing you your news, tonight." Wally's aunt says. "Sad news tonight. Earlier today, Central City's very own Iron Legend died in the field of duty while protecting our city from a dangerous monster." Ryan frowns. "The Justice League has not released his identity. In related news, Devin Thompson, head of Wayne Tech's Applied Sciences Division, who lived here in Central City, was the only civilian casualty in that battle. We go to Vicki Vale from Gotham City News, who is hoping to get a statement from Bruce Wayne. Vicki?"

"Thanks, Iris." Vale says. "I'm here outside Wayne Tower, where Bruce Wayne has not yet left." Wayne exits the building through the front door. Vale walks over to him. "Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne!"

Bruce turns to the reporter. "Yes, Miss Vale?" He says.

"Mr. Wayne, we were just hoping we could get a comment on the death of your employee, Devin Thompson." Vale says.

"I'm shocked. Devin was always able to find a way out of any situation alive. He was very resourceful. Even after the explosion twelve years ago, he was back on his feet and back at work in a matter of days. But, I suppose the arc reactor in his chest wasn't enough to save him. Not this time." Bruce says. "He was a good man. He wanted to make the world a better place, in any way he could. And to his son, Ryan, I want you to know that you're always welcome at the Manor." He smiles.

"Mr. Wayne, do you have any idea where his son is n-" Vale starts.

"No further questions." Wayne says, abruptly. He walks into the limousine waiting for him and whispers something to Alfred, who closes the door behind Wayne, gets into the driver's seat of the limo, and starts driving back to the manor.

After waiting a few seconds, Vale turns back around and says "Well, there you have it folks! This is Vicki Vale of Gotham City News, back to you, Iris."

"Thanks for that, Vicki." Iris says. "I'd also like to send my condolences to Ryan, who is good friends with my nephew, Wally. Your father was a good man." Ryan turns the TV off and he starts crying again. Zatanna walks into the room in her pajamas and sits next to him. Ryan doesn't show that he noticed, but he did, and Zatanna knew it.

He didn't sleep that night. Not even for a minute.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Sorry it took me so long to upload. I've been busy with private life stuff. I'll probably get the next chapter out by tonight! Until then, hasta la vista!**


	10. How to Cope

The next morning, Ryan was tired, seeing as he didn't sleep. Both Giovanni and Zatanna noticed.

"You're definitely not going to school." Giovanni says.

"I think I'm gonna go back to bed." Ryan says. He gets up and heads back to his room. _I still hate this color._ Ryan thinks to himself, referring to the color of the walls in his room. He gets some sleep this time.

A few hours later, he wakes up, refreshed. He walks down to the living room to find that Zatanna hasn't left for school yet.

"What are you still doing here?" He asks.

"Snow day." She says, needing no further explanation.

"Ah." He says. He walks over to the window to see snow covering the ground. He sees children playing with their parents… With their fathers…

He makes an attempt to fight the tears. He tries to be strong. But, alas, the tears start rolling down his face. He walks to his room, trying to make sure Zatanna doesn't see. Her comfort is nice, but she probably thinks it's getting old, by this point. Once he makes it to his room, he starts crying silently.

Once he's done, he gets changed and tells Zatanna that he's headed to the cave.

When he arrives at the cave, he finds Wally waiting for him.

"I knew you'd come to a place where it isn't snowing." Wally says.

"I came here because I was hoping Batman would have a mission. I really just wanna kick some tail, right now." Ryan says.

"You watched the news last night, didn't you?" Wally says, frowning.

Instead of answering his question, tears start rolling down Ryan's face, again. The redhead just hugs him.

"Ryan!" Another redhead calls over. Wally releases his friend from the hug and they both turn to see Roy, walking over to them.

"I forgot to mention, Roy came to see how you were holding up." The speedster says.

"I heard what happened. How are you doing?" The archer asks.

"I'll live… hopefully." Ryan says.

"Don't worry, if anyone can make it through this, it's you." Roy says. "You know, when I heard the news, I was completely shocked. I kinda thought your father was invincible. He had never faltered before. I always thought he'd live to see eighty, at least."

"Me too." Ryan says. "Do either of you have any idea where Robin is?"

"I think I saw him in the hangar bay." Roy says.

"Thanks, Spee- Red Arrow." Ryan corrects himself.

"I'll let that one slide." The arrogant archer says.

Ryan walks over to the hangar bay to find Robin, wearing his civilian clothes with sunglasses as usual, speaking with Kaldur, who is wearing his Aqualad outfit. "Hey, Ryan!" The boy wonder waves to his friend.

"Hey, Robin." Ryan says.

"How are you feeling, my friend?" Kaldur asks.

"Sad, mad, bad, like I lost my dad." Ryan says.

"Oooh! Rhyming!" Robin says with a laugh.

"Well, just remember, we're here for you." The Atlantean says.

"Thanks Kaldur, though it's kinda hard to forget when everyone says it every two seconds." Ryan attempts a joke. Robin only gives a small chuckle. "Anyway, I was hoping for some advice on how to cope."

"Keep a log." Robin says.

"A log?" Ryan asks. "What kind of log?"

"A hero's log." The Boy Wonder explains. "Keep record of missions you go on, feelings you have. It's kinda like a diary, except it's an audio recording rather than a book."

"I think I'll try that. Thanks, Robin." Ryan smiles.

"No problem." He smiles back.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! The next chapter will be Ryan's first log. Please review!**


	11. Entry 1

Ryan is in his quarters at the cave. He's pacing back and forth. Finally, he sighs. "ARIAS, create a log. Name it 'Iron Bat's log - Entry #1.'"

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says.

"Iron Bat's Log - Entry Number 1. Date - October Fifteenth, Two Thousand Ten." Ryan starts. "Well, Robin was the one who suggested I do this." Sigh. "Where do I start?" He pauses, thinking. "My name is Ryan Thompson. I am fifteen years old. Yesterday, my father, the Iron Legend, fell in battle. I'm still recovering. I've been adopted by Giovanni Zatara. I've moved in with him and his daughter, Zatanna, whom I've been friends with since I was six years old. We even had a romantic relationship for about two, maybe three years. She's been very supportive, making sure I'm okay. She's a nice girl, and I'm glad that I can call her a friend. Well, a sister, now." Ryan chuckles.

"Giovanni is an old friend of my father's. He's a nice man, trustworthy, without a doubt. He saved my father's life once. I don't think I would've become the hero I am now if it weren't for him. He's taught me quite a few things. No magic, unfortunately… but now, come to think of it, now that he's my father… probably not. But a bit more possible.

"My other friends have been supportive too. Robin, who I'm pretty sure is Dick Grayson, suggested I make this log when I asked for advice on how to cope. I'm not sure if it's helping, but we'll see, I suppose. Miss Martian, whose Martian name is M'gann M'orzz and the human name she took upon is Megan Morse, has been baking extra cookies just for me. I told her not to, but once she sets her mind to something… well, things could get a tiny bit hairy if you try to stop her. Kid Flash, who is Wally West, has been there for me every step of the way, we've been friends for quite a while. He's a great kid, and he's helped me through my hardest times.

"Aqualad, whose Atlantean name is Kaldur'ahm, though we just call him Kaldur, and is also the leader of our team, has been checking in on me every hour or so to make sure I'm okay. He's not big on the comfort thing. Superboy, who took the name Conner Kent, doesn't really know how to act. He's a CADMUS clone of Superman and has only been alive for a few months, so he doesn't really understand human customs yet. But I can tell that he's there for me if I ever need him.

"Then, last but certainly not least, is Artemis, whose last name I do not know, is also not big on the comfort thing, but, like Superboy, I know she's there for me if I ever need her. Wait, actually, I forgot about Speedy, whom has now changed his hero name to Red Arrow, and whose real name is Roy Harper. He visited earlier today to see how I was doing. He's a nice guy, he's just… _really_ aggressive. I gave Black Canary my father's armor for the memorial, which is in about a week. I just hope I can get through his death." He sighs again. "I think that's all for now. ARIAS, end log."

Ryan walks out of the room and to the TV room, where he finds Artemis watching TV. He walks over and sits on the sofa. "I heard that whole thing from here." Artemis says. "And you're right, I'm not big on the whole comfort thing."

Ryan laughs. "But I know you're here for me if I ever need you." He smiles.

She smiles back.

The audience on the sitcom starts laughing. "How does M'gann stand to watch this stuff?" Ryan asks.

"No idea." Artemis laughs.

"Why are you even watching it, then?"

"Also, no idea." She changes the channel.

When Wally speeds into the room and sits in between them, he says "Ooh! I love this show!"

Ryan walks out of the room, Artemis is close behind. She grabs him and starts kissing him.

"What is it with girls suddenly kissing me? Zatanna did it, and now you!" Ryan laughs after the archer breaks the kiss.

"Do you really care?"

"Nope." They start kissing again.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! For those of you who are Spitfire to the bone, don't worry! They break up before New Year's.**


	12. Failsafe - Part One

The next day, Ryan receives a text from Robin.

 _Training at the cave, if you're feeling up to it._

 _-Rob_

Ryan thinks for a minute. Then responds.

 _I'll be there in ten._

Ryan walks out and tells Giovanni where he's going. His new father nods and Ryan walks out into the backyard. He presses the button on his belt and his suit surrounds him. He then flies to the nearest zeta transporter.

* * *

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6._

He walks out of the zeta tube and into a control room with seven metal tables in a circle with J'onn standing in the center. He also sees Red Tornado working at a computer, and Captain Marvel petting Wolf. "What… are we doing?" Ryan asks, cautiously.

"Training simulation." Robin walks into the room, wearing his civilian clothes.

"I don't quite understand, we don't have that kind of tech." Ryan scratches his head.

"It's a mental simulation." J'onn explains. "I will mentally link you with your friends and the simulation will play out in your minds."

"Are you sure that it's safe? I mean, I might not be in the best mental condition considering what happened two days ago." Ryan asks, a little nervous.

"That's your decision, Ryan. You don't have to do the simulation if you don't think you're up to it." Batman walks into the room.

Ryan thinks for a moment. "As long as you're sure it's safe, I'm in."

"Great, lay down on one of the tables." The Dark Knight says.

Ryan does so, as well as the rest of the team.

"As you go in, remember, it is a simulation, meaning it is not real." Batman reminds them.

* * *

The team is over by Superman's Fortress of Solitude to take an alien scout ship's cannon. The team destroys the ship and takes its cannon for their own use, losing Wolf in the process.

 _Rerouting systems to integrate weapon into ship's biomatrix. We'll need to decamouflage for a few minutes._ M'gann explains.

 _May not have a few minutes!_ Robin warns as more extraterrestrial ships fly in to attack them.

 _Miss Martian, open fire!_ Kaldur orders.

 _Can't! Weapons systems are offline to incorporate the new cannon. And that's not fully integrated yet, either._ M'gann says.

 _Got you covered! Get inside! I'm almost there!_ Artemis says, aiming three explosive arrows at the incoming enemy ships. After firing the arrows, she runs to the bioship. The arrows destroy one ship and ground the other. The grounded ship aims at the fleeing archer.

 _Artemis! Behind you!_ M'gann warns her friend.

The archer turns around and takes aim, but is disintegrated by the particle beam fired by the enemy cannon.

"Artemis!" M'gann screams.

"Artemis!" Wally and Ryan soon follow.

"Get inside! All of you!" Kaldur orders. He runs at the ship and takes out his Water-Bearers. He sends the ship flying in the air. The ship fires a random blast that misses. Aqualad sends large, sharp ice shards into the alien ship, causing it to explode.

"They're dead. Every single alien! If it's the last thing I do!" Wally says, furious, just like the rest of them.

* * *

Back in reality, the seven teens are still on the tables. J'onn clutches his head in pain. Batman rushes over to him.

"J'onn! What is it?!" He asks.

"Something has gone horribly wrong." J'onn explains.

"Then pull them out of it!" Captain Marvel says.

"I can't." The Martian explains. "I'm not in control, anymore."

"Then who is?" Batman asks as he and J'onn look to M'gann, who is now levitating.

* * *

On the flight from the Arctic, everyone mourns. M'gann is crying, Wally is banging on his control panel.

"Two people I care about! In less than a week!" Ryan is talking to no one in particular. "What are the odds?"

"There will be time for mourning later! For now, we have a job to do… Defend the Earth, and make sure Artemis' sacrifice was not in vain." Aqualad tells his team.

"Back to the cave?" M'gann asks.

"The Hall of Justice." Kaldur says. "The human race must know that there are still heroes defending them. There is still hope."

* * *

They reach the Hall of Justice, where there are army troops attempting to fight the alien invaders. There are three invader ships flying in front of them.

"Ryan, ideas?" The Atlantean asks.

Ryan assesses the situation. "Superboy can take out the one on the left. Then Miss Martian can take out the other two using our new cannon."

"On it." Superboy says.

"Getting you into position, Superboy." M'gann says. "Be careful, Conner."

"I will." The Kryptonian says. A hole in the floor forms above the ship on the left and Conner jumps out and starts pounding away on the invader ship.

M'gann then fires the cannon at the other two ships, destroying them. She then lands the bioship in front of the army troops. The team walks out of the ship.

"… where's the cape?" One soldier asks.

"I'm not Superman." Conner says.

"I don't know who you are, son. And right now, I don't care. You wear the 'S' and you got the job done." The general says, in thanks.

"I'm not Superman." Conner repeats.

"Tell that to the enemy." The general says. He turns to Kaldur and salutes. "General Wade Eiling. U.S. Air Force."

"Aqualad, Justice League." The team's leader introduces himself. "We'll help you salvage as many of the aliens' cannons as possible, then we start taking back what is ours."

* * *

 **That's part one of Failsafe. Check in for part two.**


	13. Failsafe - Part Two

"We have to help them somehow!" Batman says.

 _Recognized. Zatara 1-1._

Giovanni walks in. "What is wrong with my son?!"

"He's stuck in a mental simulation." Batman explains.

"I agree. There must be a way." Red Tornado says. "Zatara, can't you use your magic to get them out of the simulation?"

"I can try." Giovanni says. He walks over to the middle of the circle of tables. _"Gnirb ym wen nos dna sih sdneirf tuo fo siht latnem noitalumis!"_ Instead of bringing the team out of the exercise, the spell fails and Giovanni is shocked by a bit of lightning.

"Well, that didn't work." Captain Marvel says.

"There is one other way." The Martian starts.

"Well, what is it?!" Captain Marvel asks, hopefully.

"I'll go into the reality and take control away from M'gann so that I can end the simulation." J'onn explains.

"Do it." Batman says.

J'onn nods and walks over to his niece. He places his hands on her head.

* * *

The team walks into the Hall of Justice and stares at the broken statues of the original League members.

"They're really gone." Robin says, grimly.

M'gann hovers over to Martian Manhunter's statue. She then gets on her knees and starts crying. She then gasps and flies up into the air. She uses her telekinesis to pick up her uncle's statue. "Uncle J'onn!" She goes to hug her uncle.

Kaldur blocks her path. _M'gann, check his mind. Make sure he is whom he appears to be._

 _It's him. He's real. And he's alive!_ The remaining female says.

"But we saw you get disintegrated." Conner says. "You and Superman, and everyone."

"Yeah, something isn't right here." Ryan adds.

"Yes. I remember. But… I cannot remember how I survived. Or how I arrived here." J'onn says.

"Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed right through you!" M'gann says, optimistically.

"Scrambling your brains in the process!" Robin adds to the younger Martian's theory.

"My mind _is_ clouded." The Manhunter starts. "I feel certain that I had something important to tell you."

 _Hello, Wally!_ The speedster copies M'gann as he hits his own head. _Come on!_

Robin and Ryan follow, confused.

 _Scan the cannon._ Wally instructs, putting his goggles on.

Ryan and Robin both do so. They both pick up zeta beam radiation.

 _I knew it! Look! It's giving off zeta beams, the same stuff that powers our zeta tubes. This thing doesn't disintegrate, it-it teleports! Artemis is alive!_ Wally explains.

 _Possible. But it's just a theory._ Ryan says.

 _No! It's more than just a theory! Back me up, Robin!_ Wally says.

 _I gotta agree with Ryan on this one, KF. I mean, maybe but-_ Robin starts.

 _No maybes! They're all alive!_ Wally says, also optimistic.

"That must've been what you wanted to tell us!" M'gann says.

J'onn ponders on this.

Another squad of extraterrestrials flies in.

 _We're on our way!_ Kaldur informs.

 _Negative! We can't win this!_ Robin responds. _Miss Martian, camo the Bioship!_

Before M'gann can do so, however, the Bioship is 'teleported'. But for some strange reason, it causes both Martians to get knocked down.

"M'gann!" Conner runs over to the younger Martian. He grabs her and turns her over to see that she is teary-eyed.

"That didn't feel like-" M'gann starts.

 _We're falling back!_ Robin says, running into the Hall of Justice, along with Eiling and some other soldiers.

Eiling looks at the closed door in front of him. "We're trapped!"

The door opens. "Maybe not." Aqualad says. The teens and soldiers run into the room. The soldiers take positions for defense. "We can all zeta to the cave if you can grant us computer clearance to access the tubes." Aqualad says to the Manhunter.

"I can only authorize one at a time." J'onn says.

"Send the soldiers first." Aqualad orders.

"Belay that! You seven are assets we cannot afford to lose." Eiling says.

Aqualad nods to J'onn, who walks to the door. A scanner pops out of the ceiling and scans the Manhunter.

"Override. Martian Manhunter 0-7." J'onn says.

 _Recognized. Access granted._

 _Miss Martian B-0-5._

 _Robin B-0-1._

 _Iron Bat B-0-6._

 _Kid Flash B-0-3._

Just as it finishes scanning Wally, an explosion comes through the wall. The debris traps one of the soldiers. Superboy jumps over to him. Wally just stands there. Aqualad then throws the speedster into the zeta tube.

When Superboy reaches the soldier, he pushes the rock he is trapped under. A beam hits the rock, taking a chunk out of it. He picks the soldier up and carries him to the zeta tube.

"He's next." Superboy says, placing the soldier down.

"Fine, then you." Aqualad says.

The scanner scans the soldier.

 _Private Jason Bard. USMC._

"Can you make it?" Conner asks Jason.

"Sure, Superman." Jason says, walking into the tube.

"I'm not-"

 _Superboy B-0-4._

Conner jumps into the zeta tube.

Kaldur is walking J'onn over to the zeta tube as the soldiers are getting hit by the beams. "They need you more than me! Go!" Kaldur throws J'onn into the zeta tube. He then turns to see a beam headed straight for him.

"Our next mission is clear. If we believe the aliens have been teleporting their victims-" Robin starts.

"We do." Wally butts in. Ryan rolls his eyes.

"Then the only reasonable detention facility is here." Robin brings up a picture of the alien mothership. "Their mothership… on top of what used to be Smallville." The remaining teens turn to J'onn. "Ring any bells?"

"No. I am sorry." J'onn says.

"Superboy, you'll create a distraction." Robin says.

"No! He's offering you as a sacrifice! Aqualad never would've done that!" M'gann says.

"You're right. Aqualad would've sacrificed himself." Robin says. "A mistake that just cost us our leader. Superboy is most likely to be perceived as a threat, motivating the aliens to deploy."

"Worst case, he's teleported inside, and we set him free along with Artemis." Wally says. "And, uh, Aqualad, and everyone."

"Agreed." Ryan says.

 _It's okay, M'gann. It's what Superman would do._ Conner says.

"Great! Now that we've gotten that settled, we have a few more pieces of business to attend to." Ryan says. "Fortunately, I've already taken the liberty of sending out a distress signal to all the remaining heroes on this Earth. Help should arrive soon."

"What's the second order of business?" Wally asks.

"We need to get a message out to the public. Tell them that we will fight to protect them, or die trying." Ryan explains. "We will tell them that the Earth will not fall without a fight, and that there is hope. Because hope is the only thing stronger than fear."

 _Recognized. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3. Red Arrow B-0-7._

Ryan runs over to his adoptive sister. "Zatanna!" He hugs her. "Thank God, you're okay!"

"I've been saying the same thing." Zatanna says. "Do you know where my father is?"

Ryan leaves the hug and places his hands on Zatanna's shoulders and frowns. "Z-Zatanna… I-I'm so sorry. J'onn is the only Leaguer left."

Zatanna frowns. Tears start rolling out of her eyes. Ryan starts hugging her again.

"There is hope, though." Ryan says. "We believe that the beams that the alien ships fire are actually teleportation beams. Which means that Giovanni might still be alive, along with everyone else." As he says this, Ryan gets the strangest feeling. He gets the feeling that Zatanna isn't actually there. That his adoptive sister isn't actually in his arms.

"Ryan!" Robin calls over. "We're about to start!"

"Coming! Just gimme a sec!" Ryan responds. He continues to hold on to Zatanna. The longer he hugs her, the more he feels like she isn't actually there. He lets go and walks over to the spot where they are going to broadcast the message from. As he walks, he presses the button on his belt. His armor starts to form around him. He gets up to the camera first.

"On the air in three! Two! One!" Robin counts down.

"People of Earth." Ryan starts. "I am the Iron Bat, and my friends and I have an important message for you to hear. We know you are scared. We know that you are panicked."

"And though we know that all seems lost…" M'gann starts as she and Conner step beside Ryan. "… the one thing the aliens cannot destroy is hope."

"Hope survives because the battle is not over." Conner says. "Not as long as even _one_ of us is willing to fight!"

The three of them walk to the side as Kid Flash walks up. "It doesn't matter how many fall, for new heroes will always rise to carry on bringing their skills, their resources, their talents to bare to defeat the enemy!"

Robin walks up as Kid Flash steps aside. "The people of Earth _will_ survive this! We will rebuild and we will thrive! Never doubt and never forget, the Earth will NEVER SURRENDER!"

Ryan walks back up. "So, please, don't give up hope! If you give up hope, then all really is lost." He pauses. "For the Earth!" He says, throwing his fist into the air.

* * *

 **That's the chapter. Sorry it took me so long! I've been playing DC Universe Online a lot. Happy Holidays!**

 **Ps. See if you can find my Hunger Games reference.**


	14. Failsafe - Part Three

Back in reality, the elder heroes are waiting and hoping that J'onn succeeds.

"It's been ten minutes… You'd think he'd be done by now." Zatara says.

"Something must be stopping J'onn from thinking clearly. He must not remember why he's there, or that it isn't real." Batman says. "But you should still have faith, Giovanni."

 _Recognized. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3._

Zatanna runs over to Ryan and Robin's unconscious bodies. She tries shaking them to wake them up, to no avail. Tears start rolling down her eyes. "Robin… Ryan…"

Giovanni walks over to his daughter and places a hand on her shoulder. "J'onn is doing everything he can to save them." He explains. "Come sit down." He walks her over to a set of chairs.

* * *

In the simulation, the remaining members of the team, and J'onn, arrive in what used to be Smallville. M'gann walks next to Robin.

"Stay close to J'onn. He's still…" Robin shakes his hand in an 'iffy' motion.

M'gann nods.

Robin turns behind him. "First team, deploy."

The two Martians fly over to the mothership. M'gann puts her hood on and grabs her uncle's hand. They both enter camouflage mode. They keep flying until they're by the outer wall of the mothership. J'onn then density shifts through the wall, pulling M'gann through with him.

 _Ready. In position._ M'gann informs her friends. _Be careful, Conner. I love you._

Conner smiles, then looks to Robin, who nods. He then jumps over to one of the guns on the mothership. He rips it from the ship.

 _Careful, don't disconnect the power source._ Robin warns him.

"Alright you glorified trespassers! You wanna see how a real alien fights?!" Conner then fires the cannon, that he is now holding above his head, at the other cannons. This forces the invaders to deploy their aerial forces to attack. _Now or never!_

Wally carries Robin over to the mothership at super speed and Ryan flies behind them. Once they reach the ship, they immediately hide from the ships that are deploying.

 _Way's clear. Go!_ Robin says. Ryan is now in a stealth suit. The three run over to cover to hide from an alien robot. The robot passes by, not seeing them. The three look to see if the robot turns back, not seeing the robot behind them. But before the robot can shoot the three, it is hit by a crate. The three turn to see the two Martians, still camouflaged. Robin motions them to follow and they run down the hall.

Back outside, Superboy is fending off the aliens. A beam hits the spot in front of him, sending him flying back. Once he gets up again, another beam hits him from behind, and he disappears.

* * *

"Superboy has slipped into a coma." Red Tornado states. "Only Robin, Kid Flash, Iron Bat, and the Martians remain."

"J'onn, what is going on in there?" Batman asks.

* * *

Back inside the mothership, M'gann leaves camouflage mode, stops running, and falls into her uncle, who catches her and has also decamouflaged and stopped. She gets back up and puts her hand to her head. _No. He's gone._ She falls to her knees.

Wally runs over to her. _It's alright. We'll find him with Artemis. I know it._

 _No. My mind is clearer now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility, no prisoners to rescue._ J'onn says. _Our mission holds no purpose._

 _No, you're wrong!_ Wally says, grabbing J'onn. _The zeta radiation proves she's alive! She's-_

 _Stop it, KF!_ Robin grabs his friend. _I've been scanning for League and team signals since we got inside. They're not here. Artemis is gone._ He pauses. _But our mission still holds purpose to destroy this mothership._

M'gann stands up. They head over to the power core. The power core is huge, glowing, orange orb.

 _This is the power core._ Robin says. _Blow this and the whole mothership blows._

A robot flies down behind them. Ryan is the only one to notice. He flies up to the robot, which has already started charging a blast. He starts charging his unibeam, and time seems to slow down. His friends are turning around, the unibeam is still charging, but Ryan knows that the disintegration beam is going to fire before the unibeam. "ARIAS, tell them I said it's been an honor fighting with them." He says as the unibeam charges.

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says.

The robot's disintegration beam fires and Ryan is gone. _At least I get to see my father again._ Being his 'final' thought. J'onn destroys the robot with his telekinesis by sending a crate flying into it.

"He wanted me to tell you all that it was an honor fighting with you." ARIAS says to the rest of the team.

* * *

"The Iron Bat has slipped into a coma." Red Tornado says. "Kid Flash, Robin, and the Martians remain.

"No!" Giovanni runs over to Ryan.

Zatanna runs back over to Robin, trying to wake him up.

"J'onn, what are you doing in there?" Captain Marvel says.

They wait for a few more minutes.

"Both Robin and Kid Flash have slipped into comas. Only the Martians remain." Red Tornado says.

A few seconds later, Artemis wakes up, then Aqualad, Ryan, Robin, and Wally. J'onn takes his hands off of M'gann's head. M'gann wakes up with a shock, sitting up immediately. Batman walks over to J'onn, who is clutching his head in pain.

Ryan looks around and takes everything in… or, at least, he tries. Giovanni isn't letting go of him, not for the world. Zatanna is doing the same with Robin.

"This… isn't Heaven… or Hell, for that matter." Ryan says, once his adoptive father lets go of him, allowing air access to his lungs once again. Zatara gives a slight chuckle at hearing this.

"You're all alive?!" M'gann says.

"What happened in there?" Batman asks J'onn.

"The exercise, it all went wrong." J'onn explains.

"Exercise?" Robin asks, Zatanna having let go of him.

"Try to remember." Batman says. "What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked the seven of you within an artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise. No matter what the team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware that _nothing_ was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

"Not real…" Ryan ponders. "That would explain the feeling I got when I was hugging Zatanna. The feeling that she wasn't actually there…" They all look to Zatanna.

"That's right, it wasn't real. That is why you hardly grieved, even when Wolf was disintegrated before your eyes. But all that changed when Artemis died." J'onn starts. The team looks to Artemis, whose head is down. "Though consciously, Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise, and her subconscious took control, making all of you forget, too."

The team looks to M'gann. "I-I'm… I'm so sorry." She says.

"This isn't her fault!" Conner says. "Why didn't you stop the exercise?!"

"We tried. But M'gann had a death grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should've awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed that she slipped into a coma." J'onn explains. "I realized I would have to rest control from Miss Martian's subconscious from within. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was too much… noise to think clearly… to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad, Superboy, and the Iron Bat helped. But only when the mothership exploded, and Robin and Kid Flash were silenced, did my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose: to shock M'gann out of the exercise, before your comas became permanent. My apologies. I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous… so damaging."

Both Captain Marvel and Superboy walk over to M'gann. J'onn turns away, and Batman follows. J'onn then falls into Batman, who catches the mind-reader. Red Tornado runs over to help. "As bad as all that?" Batman asks.

"Perhaps worse." The Manhunter says.

"Yet this is not what troubles you." Tornado observes.

"Make no mistake, my niece is untrained and cannot be held responsible for this… for _our_ debacle." J'onn says.

"No one blames her. But clearly we underestimated her abilities." Batman says.

"You understated." J'onn tells the Dark Knight. They both look to M'gann, who is crying in Captain Marvel's arms. "In terms of raw power, she has the strongest telepathic mind I have ever encountered. Stronger by far than mine."

Ryan gets up and starts walking over to Artemis, but stops. He clutches his head in pain, then he gets dizzy and falls to the floor, unconscious. Wally immediately runs over to him, checking his pulse, making sure he's still breathing. Robin follow seconds after, checking his vital signs. Conner then walks over and picks him up. He then carries him over to Batman.

 _Recognized. Flash 0-4._

Superboy hands the unconscious boy over to the speedster. Barry then runs back to the zeta tube.

"Override. Flash 0-4."

 _Recognized. Flash 0-4. Access granted. Iron Bat B-0-6. Authorization: Flash 0-4._

The speedster takes Ryan to the Watchtower, where sickbay has already been prepared.

* * *

 **And that's the chapter! This is the final chapter that crosses over with Young Justice - episode 16 - Failsafe. Reviews would be nice, considering I only have one, so far, but life's life.**


	15. Guilt

The next day, when he wakes up, Ryan looks around to take in his surroundings. He finds Artemis, Zatanna, J'onn, and Giovanni in the room. Artemis is sitting next to him, Zatanna is standing next to her, and Giovanni is speaking with J'onn.

"… His mental state seems to be stabilizing. I'm requesting that Batman keep him off of any training exercises or missions until he thinks Ryan is ready again." J'onn says. Giovanni just nods in agreement.

"Still… not the afterlife." Ryan jokes with a smile. Everyone seems surprised at the comment, not having known he was awake. They then smile and chuckle.

"Ryan, it's good to see you're awake." J'onn says.

"We were worried sick about you." Giovanni says.

"Artemis mostly." Zatanna says, catching on to Artemis and Ryan's more-than-friendship. "Then there's Dad and I."

"Why wouldn't I be worried?! He's a friend!" Artemis says, defensively.

"I didn't say-"

"I get it!" Ryan cuts Zatanna off. "You're all glad that I'm okay." He says, laughing. He turns to Giovanni. "So, is this what my Dad felt like twelve years ago?"

Giovanni laughs and then nods.

Batman walks into the room, Robin at his side. "Hey, IB! You're okay!" The Boy Wonder says.

"Of course I am, Rob! Did you really expect anything less?" Ryan says.

"Well, no, but still." Robin says.

"Ryan," Batman starts, at which everyone shuts up. "I'm releasing you from Team duty until I think you're ready. Canary will be coming in for therapy sessions every once in awhile. Once you are cleared from this hospital bed, you are allowed to visit the Cave, but no training and no going on missions."

"Fair enough." Ryan shrugs.

"I'll be coming in every week or so to check your mental state." J'onn says. "It won't be like last time, I promise." He adds after seeing a small change in Ryan's facial expression, which returned to normal after hearing the second part.

"And, of course, you'll have constant, annoying, visits from the rest of the team." Robin says, smirking.

Ryan rolls his eyes. "Something to look forward to." He says, sarcastically.

"I'll be back to check on you in a week." Batman says, he then turns and leaves the room and J'onn follows after him.

"Well, we should leave you to it." Giovanni says.

"See you around, IB." Robin says.

One by one, they file out of the room until Ryan and Artemis are the only ones who remain.

"Well, looks like you're gonna be alone for a bit." Artemis says.

"There's always room for one more." Ryan says, smirking.

She pretends to ponder on this. "No thanks, I'll pass." She says. "But I'm not leaving without saying goodbye." She plants her lips on his and they kiss for a second or so before she breaks the kiss and walks out the door.

"I saw that." Zatanna says to the archer.

"If you tell anyone, I will personally see to it an arrow goes through your head." Artemis threatens.

The young magician's eyes grow wide, not knowing her friend was capable of _that_ kind of threat. "I'll… make a note of that."

A few hours later, Canary walks into the room. "Hey, Ryan."

Ryan is laying back in his bed, reading. He closes the book he and sets it aside. "Hey, Canary."

"Are you up for another therapy session?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Great." She sits in a chair a few feet away from the bed. "So, how are you feeling?"

"A little tired, but other than that, pretty good."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." She sighs, not wanting to ask the next question. "How did you feel when you… when you died."

Ryan's eyes grow wide, having not expected that question. He sighs. "Well… I know it's weird, but… I was… I was happy."

"Happy?"

"Yes… happy."

"Happy… why?"

"I suppose it's because if I were to have died, I'd've gotten to see my father again." Ryan is now sitting up. "But if I had died… I know that Giovanni wouldn't be able to live with himself. My friends wouldn't be able to live with themselves, either." He looks down at the bed he's sitting on, then he looks back up to Canary. "How do I live with that guilt?"

"I don't know, but I promise, I'll help you find out." She smiles at him.

He attempts a smile, but it's a very weak smile.

* * *

 **That's the chapter, folks! Happy 2016! I hope you all had a very happy new year! Did you make a resolution? I did! My New Year's Resolution is to not have a New Year's Resolution! Please favorite, follow, and review!**


	16. The Prince Returns

Ryan had, unexpectedly, been released from the hospital room in the Watchtower in the short time of three days. "Just like his father." Batman had noted. He was excused from school for another three days. Then… homework. He had missed a lot in those three days. Fortunately, he had ARIAS to help him. It didn't take him _too_ long to complete.

When he wasn't in school, he was usually at the cave. There, he'd watch his girlfriend completely obliterate Wally in training, eat M'gann's extra cookies, watch TV with Wally, and find an empty room to make out with Artemis in; not necessarily in that order.

Then, the memorial.

The memorial service was on Wednesday, October Twenty-seventh. School has been cancelled that day so that people could go to the memorial service. All the League and Team members, and other heroes who are not in the League or on the Team, were there. Then, of course, most of Central City was there, as well.

Zatara was at the Iron Bat's side the whole time. That is, until it was time for the boy to give a eulogy. The Iron Bat walks up to the podium. "My mentor was a man of good intentions. He was a great man, and he was like a father to me." Ryan starts off. "He could make the best out of a bad situation without breaking a sweat. He had a great vision for the future: a world at peace. He wanted to make the world a better place in any way he could. The Iron Legend was a man who was destined for greatness. His intellect helped him through many battles. He was a very resourceful man and could find his way through many problems." Sigh. "And my mentor will go down in history, I'm sure, as a legend, the _Iron Legend._ " The Iron Bat walked back to his seat.

After him was the Flash, who sped over to the podium. He gives his eulogy and then speeds back into his chair. More eulogies follow from more heroes. After all the eulogies are over, they bury the body in front of a newly made statue of the fallen hero.

The next day is easier for Ryan. He decides to stay home after school that day, rather than visit the cave. He works on his homework, and then takes a nap.

The next day, Friday the twenty-ninth, Ryan heads to the cave after school. He finds J'onn there, and only J'onn. Other than the elder Martian, the cave is completely empty, including Wolf and Sphere.

"Where is everybody?" Ryan asks.

"On a mission. I figured you'd come here after school, and I knew the rest of the Team would be on a mission, so I thought this would be a good time to check your mental state." J'onn says.

"Okay." Ryan shrugs. "But can we do it in the TV room? That metal table isn't exactly the most comfortable thing in the world."

J'onn chuckles, then nods. They walk over to the TV room. Ryan lies down on the sofa and J'onn places his hands on the boy's head.

After an hour or so, J'onn takes his hands off of Ryan's head. Ryan gets back up.

"Your mental state seems perfectly normal to me. I'll tell Batman I think you're ready to rejoin the Team." J'onn says.

"Thanks, J'onn." Ryan says with a smile.

 _Recognized. Batman 0-2._

J'onn smiles back at the boy, then walks over to the Batman. "I think he's ready." Manhunter says. "His mental state is completely stable. He's perfectly fine."

"Maybe he's fine mentally, but the question is, is he fine _physically_?" Batman says. He walks over to Ryan. "I am letting you train with the Team again, but you still can't go on any missions."

"Good, I get to let some anger out!" Ryan says, with a smirk.

"Don't let _too_ much anger out, or else you'll harm your friends." The Dark Knight says.

"Sir, incoming video transmission." ARIAS says.

"From whom, ARIAS?" Ryan says.

"The Joker, sir."

"Put it through, but encrypt the signal. I don't want anyone tracking our location, in case he's not working alone." Ryan says.

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says.

A holographic screen appears in front of the three heroes. The Joker is in a dark room. He is the only person who can be seen. "Well, hello! And happy Halloween! Or, almost Halloween." He says.

"What do you want, Joker?" Batman says.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Typical Bats, straight to the point." Joker says. "But, I'll tell you. I've captured your sidekicks." The lights behind the Clown Prince of Crime turn on, revealing Robin, whose utility belt has been taken away, Kid Flash, and Artemis tied up in chairs and gagged. Superboy is surrounded by Kryptonite that the Joker had acquired, weakening him. Miss Martian and Aqualad are tied up over by an open flame, weakening them.

"What do you want, you crazy psychopath?!" Ryan yells, clenching his fists.

"Ooooh! Someone's angry!" Joker laughs. "Well, let's make it simple. I want the Iron Bat to come to the coordinates I'm providing with this message. I don't want to see anyone from the Justice League there! If I do, they're all dead!" The screen goes blank.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Ooh! A cliffhanger! -In announcer voice.-** _ **What happens next? Find out, next week, on…**_ **Kidding! I had meant to post this chapter a little while back, but, you know… life happened. In the time it took me to post this, I've finished the next chapter! :D Oops!**

 **So, the weather is** _ **finally**_ **catching up with the calendar! It's about time! Some winter!**

 **Please favorite, follow, and review! :)**


	17. Surprises - Part One

"I'm going, and the entire League won't be able to stop me, so don't try." Ryan says, clearly meaning business. They don't try to stop him, they try to convince him to take someone with him, though.

"You can't take on the Joker, Ryan. Not alone." Batman warns.

"That's why I'm not going to be alone." Ryan says. "I'm taking Roy and Zatanna with me. They're not Leaguers, so with them, I'll be able to meet the Joker's terms."

"There is no way Giovanni is going to approve of that." Barry says.

"He's not getting a say in the matter." Ryan says, not being his usual, happy self. "ARIAS, download the coordinates into the navigation system."

"Yes sir." ARIAS responds,

Ryan pulls up a holographic keyboard. "This is the Cave to Red Arrow. Come in Red Arrow." He says.

"What's wrong, Ryan?" Roy asks, annoyed, but alerted by Ryan's serious tone.

"It's Joker, he's captured the Team."

"I'm on my way to the Cave." Roy says.

"Cave to Zatara."

"Zatara here. What is it, Ryan?" Giovanni says, also alerted.

"Joker captured the Team and he's going to kill them if a League member shows up. I need Zatanna."

"I'm not actually getting a say in the matter, am I?" The magician asks, after a small pause.

"Nope." Ryan says.

He sighs, after another pause."I understand. I'll tell her now. Zatara out."

 _Recognized. Red Arrow B-0-7. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3. Zatara 1-1._

The magicians and archer walk into the Cave, after about ten minutes, to find Ryan speaking with Batman, J'onn, Barry, and Oliver.

"Bring my son home alive." Batman whispers, only audible to the five of them. "Or I'll break most of the bones in your body."

"I'll… make a note of that." Ryan says.

They turn to the three heroes who have just arrived.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." Ryan says to them.

"Skip the pleasantries, get to the details." Roy says.

"Okay…" Ryan starts. He pulls up a screenshot that ARIAS had taken during the transmission.

"Robin…" Zatanna says, almost inaudible.

"The Team left the Cave for Gotham at 2:15 today to follow up on a lead to find the Joker. The Cave had lost contact with them at about 2:56. At 4:14, ARIAS received a video transmission from the Joker." Ryan explains." The Clown Prince of Crime went on to tell us he had captured the team. He said that he wanted me, or, rather, the Iron Bat, to come to coordinates he provided without a League member, otherwise, he'd kill the Team. So, I decided to get help outside of the League."

"Well, let's go!" Roy says.

"One second, my friend." Ryan says. "I just need to get something."

He walks over to his room in the cave. When he comes back he has three small, circular devices in his hand. He places them on the ground. He presses the button on his belt. His armor surrounds him. Once his armor is on, he picks the devices up and puts them in a slot on his right arm.

"Are you ready now?" Roy asks, growing impatient.

"Yes, I'm ready." The Iron Bat says.

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Red Arrow B-0-7. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3._

The three young heroes arrive in Gotham. They head to the coordinates supplied by Joker.

"So, what now?" Zatanna asks when they arrive at an abandoned toy factory.

"Scanning… Scanning… Done!" Ryan says, looking at the building. He turns to the other two. He holds out his hand, palm facing the sky. A holographic map of the building appears. "Okay, so, We're the red dots." Ryan says, using his other hand to point to the three red dots outside the map.

"Where are our friends?" Zatanna asks.

"I don't know." Ryan says.

"Hack into the security cameras." Roy says.

"I tried. I can't. The cameras aren't wireless, meaning I can't access the system from here. I need an access point into the system." Ryan explains. "Fortunately, I found one." A green dot appears on the map. "Our first objective is getting to that access point.

"Once I hack into the security feed, I can find out which room the team is in and where their gear is." The three red dots move to the green dot as Ryan explains this.

"Once we find them," Two blue dots appear in separate rooms. "Roy, I want you to head to get their gear." One red dot moves to one blue dot as Ryan says this. "Zatanna and I will head off to free the Team." The other red dots move to the other blue dot.

"Once you've gotten all of their gear, make your way to meet up with us. Most likely case, Joker will be waiting, and we'll be stuck fighting some of Joker's goons." Roy's red dot moves to the other blue dot. "Once we defeat Joker, we leave." All three red dots leave the map. The hologram disappears. "Got it?"

"I thought you didn't know where they were." Roy says.

"The blue dots were just examples." Ryan explains.

"Oh, okay. Got it." The archer says.

"Got it." Zatanna says.

"Let's go!" Ryan says.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed! Please favorite, follow, and review!**


	18. Surprises - Part Two

The trio heads into the factory. Ryan looks around. "Let's see… Old and abandoned toy factory… check. Dim, creepy lighting… check. Everything Joker-ized…" He takes another look to see joker cards, Jack-in-the-boxes, and 'Ha! Ha! Ha!' written in a light green all over the walls. "Yeah… Joker's definitely here."

"Agreed." Roy says.

"Well, let's go!" Ryan says. They start walking to the access point.

* * *

Inside a dark room, the Joker is standing in front of his captives, with his back to them. He's watching a security feed of the trio of heroes that have entered the factory.

"Well, well, well… it seems your teammate brought friends… good… the more the bloodier!" Joker laughs. "Let them find you six… I can't wait for the party we're gonna have! We'll be up 'till three, just laughing!"

"Mistah J!" A female voice says.

"What is it, Harley?!" Joker asks.

Harley Quinn walks into the room. "The boys are askin' if you want them to put a bomb in the security access room."

"No, I want to have some fun with them." Joker smiles.

Harley turns to leave the room. "No-go on the kaboom, boys!"

* * *

"Weird…" Ryan says when the trio reaches the access room. "… completely unguarded."

"Also disappointing." Roy mutters under his breath.

"Well, let's get this over with." Ryan walks over to the computer in the room. He starts typing, rapidly. He pulls up a password screen. He takes his finger and a USB port pops out. He plugs it into the computer. A window appears on the monitor. A loading bar appears. The bar slowly fills. "Can't you go any faster, ARIAS?"

"This is as fast as I can hack this encryption, sir. I'm sorry." ARIAS says.

"… All I'm sayin' is that Joker has been pretty obsessed with this Iron Bat guy ever since the Iron Legend died." An approaching thug says.

"You two can handle them, right?" Ryan says.

Roy just smirks. The thugs walk into the room to find Roy's fists headed for their faces. They are immediately knocked out.

"Nice!" Ryan says with a chuckle.

"Finished, sir." ARIAS says after another minute.

"Finally!" Red Arrow says relieved.

"Aaaaaanddd… found them!" Ryan unplugs his finger and holds out his palm towards the ceiling. The holo-map reappears. The red dots are by the green dot. "Okay, so, we are in the security access room. Roy, you are headed to the boiler room." A blue dot appears in a room on the west side of the map. "Zatanna and I are headed for the office, which is rather large." The other blue dot appears in a room on the southeast side of the map. "Got it?"

The two other heroes nod.

"Good," the map disappears. "let's go!" Ryan says.

The trio splits up. Red Arrow heads for the boiler room while Iron Bat and Zatanna head for the very large office. Roy runs into little resistance on his way, which he finds rather disappointing, until he gets to the boiler room doors. There are three brutes guarding the door.

 _This oughtta be fun._ Roy thinks to himself, almost sarcastically.

* * *

 **That's the chapter!**

 **So… news… I think I might be starting another project at the same time I working on this. It's not going to be Young Justice, thought. It's going to be DC Universe Online. I don't know for sure, but maybe. But, until then, review, favorite, and follow!**


	19. Surprises - Part Three

Ryan and Zatanna arrive at the office. The very large office.

"How much space did this guy need?" Ryan says.

"A lot, apparently." Zatanna says.

Of course, the room has been jokerized. Jack-in-the-boxes and joker cards everywhere.

"Welcome! Welcome to the fun house!" Joker appears on the platform above them.

"Where are they?!" Ryan asks.

"Who?!" Joker has his signature smile on his face.

"Our friends!" Zatanna says.

"Ah! That's right! That's why you came here! Well…" The lights in the lower section of the room turn on. "Here they are!" The two teenage heroes see Robin and Artemis in front of them, tied to chairs. They see Kid Flash frozen in ice. They see Aqualad and Miss Martian, still weakened by the fire and Superboy by the kryptonite. "Oh, but I wouldn't move from that spot if I were you."

"Why not?" Ryan says, wary of the Joker's tricks, or "jokes" rather. He's not the Trickster.

"Because then I'd have to kill your friends, and I don't want to do that! I want to have some fun with them!" Joker laughs. "There's a trapdoor underneath them all, and if you go near them or I press a certain button, they'll open. Also, your friends will fall into an incinerator!"

"You're crazy." Ryan says.

"Thank you!" Joker smiles.

"And sick." Zatanna adds.

"Do I look like I have the flu?" Joker says.

* * *

Back by the boiler room, Roy has taken the brutes out. He walks into the room to find a baseball bat swinging at his head. He ducks down in time to avoid being hit by it. Instinctively, he follows up with a sweep under the legs. The person falls with a feminine grunt. He draws his bow and aims the arrow to the face of none other than Harley Quinn.

"That's no way to treat a lady!" Quinn says.

"Since when are you considered a lady?" Red Arrow smirks.

"You're gonna eat those words, Speedy!"

"It's Red Arrow! And might I mention that you're the one with an arrow aimed at her head?"

"Not for long!" With that, Quinn kicks Roy in the leg, making him trip back. Harley jumps up and grabs her bat. But before she can do anything, Red Arrow is back up and he punches her in the face. She staggers back against the wall. The arrogant archer sends three more punches her way, rendering the jester unconscious.

"I hate clowns." Roy says as he restrains Quinn to a pipe in the room.

He walks to get the Team's gear. He puts it all in a shoulder bag he had found on his way to the room. He then starts heading on his way to the office.

* * *

"Why did you ask for me?" Ryan asks.

"I'm getting to that!" Joker says. Ryan rolls his eyes under his helmet. "Take your helmet off." Joker says, smiling.

"What?! No!" Ryan says.

"Do it, or I'll kill your friends. All it takes is the push of a button." He just keeps smiling.

"Really?" Zatanna says, unamused.

"Yes, really!" Joker says. "I think I'll start with the Boy Wonder. He and the Bat have been bothering me for a long time."

Zatanna is forced into a more fearful state, after hearing Joker say he'd kill Robin first. She looks to Ryan with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Fine!" Ryan growls. "ARIAS, do it. But just the helmet."

"Yes sir." ARIAS says.

The helmet opens enough for Ryan to take it off. He slowly pulls the helmet off to reveal his face.

"Just as I thought." Joker smiles.

"Why do you care, anyway?" Ryan says.

"Let's put it this way…" Joker clears his throat. "Ryan, I am your Uncle."

* * *

 **That's the chapter! I hope you like this new development! And it's fitting in a way, the Star Wars reference I used. Why? Because, in some cases, like the Arkham games, Mark Hamill plays the voice of the Joker, and then, in Star Wars, Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker. So, yeah, it's kinda fitting.**

 **Anyway, please favorite, follow, and review!**


	20. Surprises - Part Four

"I'm sorry, what?!" Ryan says.

"You heard me!" Joker says. "I'm your uncle!"

"I-I refuse to believe that!" Ryan says.

"Believe what you wish, but you can't change what's true!" Joker smiles.

"Sir, it's true." ARIAS says. "I compared your DNA to that of the Joker. It was a match."

 _Ooooh! Batman is_ so _in for it!_ Ryan thinks to himself. "I don't care if you're family by blood!" Ryan says. "You are _not_ family by heart! And I still _hate_ you!"

"Hate is such a strong word." Joker says. "I prefer to call it… tough love."

"No… I definitely _hate_ you." Ryan says. "Now, give us our friends back!"

"Tell you what, I _will_ give you your friends back, but _only_ if you can beat Harley." Joker laughs.

"Already done!" Ryan and Zatanna turn to see Roy in the doorway with the Team's gear.

Joker sighs. "Can't say I'm not surprised." He ponders. "You know what? Let's see if you can beat Killer Croc!"

A door at the end of the room opens. Killer Croc walks out of it. "Oh, come on!" Ryan says.

"Trapdoors have been disabled." A voice says over the comms. Ryan smirks.

"Let's do this." Ryan puts his helmet back on.

"Wait, he's your _Uncle?_ " The voice says. " _Man,_ this just is _not_ a good month for you, is it?!"

Ryan rolls his eyes. "Not now, my friend."

He clenches his hand into a fist and puts his arm straight out. The slot that Ryan had put the circular devices in comes back out of the arm. The slot fires the devices in different directions. One flies over to Superboy, one flies over to Miss Martian and Aqualad, and the last one flies straight at Killer Croc. As they fly, they start to form Iron Batsuits. The suit flying at Croc is fully formed when it reaches him and uppercuts the large reptile, sending him back a few steps.

" _WHAT?!_ " Joker says, leaning over the rail and almost falling off of the platform.

The suit by the heat-susceptible heroes puts out the fire and stays to defend them while they regain their strength.

The suit by Superboy contains the Kryptonite. Superboy regains his consciousness and his strength. The armor joins the fight against Croc.

"Superboy, can you get a few good hits on Killer Croc?" Ryan asks. Connor nods. He charges at Croc. "Zatanna, free Kid Flash. Red Arrow, Robin and Artemis. I'll help Superboy!" Ryan orders. They don't disobey.

Zatanna runs over to Kid Flash. " _Tlem eht eci!"_ All of a sudden, the ice quickly melts. Wally falls to his knees and rubs his arms, shuddering.

"It's official, I _hate_ ice." Wally says.

"Shut up, Kid Complainer!" Ryan says, flying all around Killer Croc. "A little help would be nice!"

Roy drops the bag and opens it. He then uses one of his arrows to cut the ropes binding the unconscious Robin and Artemis to the chairs. Artemis starts to fall over. Roy catches her. He tries to wake her up, unsuccessfully. In one final attempt, he drops her. "What the hell?!" She jumps back up.

"Good, you're awake." Roy says. "Grab your stuff from the bag, wake up the Boy Wonder, then help us fight Killer Croc."

Artemis nods, and does so.

"Iron Bat, I'm in position." The voice says.

"Then strike when ready, professor." Ryan says.

All of a sudden, the Atom uppercuts the Joker as he grows to his regular size.

"You brought the Atom?" Zatanna asks.

"Yeah, he's not a League member, either." Ryan says. "Plus, he doesn't weigh much." Ryan grins.

Zatanna rolls her eyes at the corny joke.

"I thought I said not to bring a League member!" Joker says.

"I'm _not_ a leaguer." Palmer smirks.

" _Ha ha ha ha ha!_ " Robin's signature laugh echoes through the room.

"I really hate that laugh." Joker says.

Robin leaps out of the shadows onto Killer Croc's back. He places a device on the reptile and jumps back into the shadows. The device explodes, knocking Croc down, but not out.

"ARIAS, charge the unibeam." Ryan says.

"Charging…" ARIAS says.

"Cover me! I need to charge the unibeam!" Ryan tells his friends as he lands.

 _On it!_ M'gann says, telepathically. She flies past Ryan, sending crates flying at the reptile, who has now gotten back onto his feet.

Aqualad runs by, with the suit that was defending him and M'gann flying behind him. The armor fires its repulsors, distracting Croc from Ryan. The Atlantean uses the water from to melted ice to attack Croc.

Kid Flash speeds around Croc and confuses him.

Artemis and Red Arrow both fire their arrows at the large reptile.

"Unibeam fully charged, sir." ARIAS says.

"Good." Ryan says. _Unibeam's charged. Out of the way._

The team gets out of Ryan's way, leaving Croc open to the attack.

"Lock." Ryan's armor locks itself into the ground. "Aim… Fire!" The unibeam fires, sending Croc through three walls. The reptile falls unconscious.

"Rebooting…" ARIAS says. Ryan's suit powers down, momentarily. "Systems operating at fifty percent." The suit powers back on.

"Professor, you can knock the clown out." Ryan says.

"Oh, phewy!" Joker says.

Ray nods and punches the Clown Prince in the face.

" _Eit mih pu!"_ Ropes bind Joker's hands and feet after Zatanna casts this spell.

"ARIAS, power the auxiliary suits down." Ryan says.

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says. The three suits retract into the circular devices that they had started out in. Ryan collects them.

"Well, let's call the police." Ryan says, after collecting all three. "Who's gonna stay and tell the cops what happened?"

"I will." Robin says. "The GCPD is most acquainted with me."

Ryan nods. "And, Robin."

"Yeah, IB?" The Boy Wonder asks.

"Be careful with Batman. I couldn't tell if he was worried or mad at you when we learned you got captured." Ryan says.

Robin nods. The rest of the Team, and Roy, Ray, and Zatanna, head back to Cave.

* * *

Back at the Cave, Ryan pulls the Atom and Zatanna aside.

"Ryan, what is it?" Zatanna asks.

"You know the thing about Joker being my Uncle? We keep that between the three of us." Ryan says. "I don't want my friends thinking I could turn on them."

They both agree.

"Now I just need to find Batman." Ryan heads out to find the Dark Knight.

He finds him in the control room. Bruce notices Ryan entering the room, without Robin. "I swear to God, you are not ever going to be able to walk, again when I'm throu-" Batman starts.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Ryan interrupts. "Robin is fine. He's just explaining what happened to the GCPD."

Batman breathes a sigh of relief.

"But… there is something you and I have to talk about." Ryan says. "Perhaps in a more private room."

Batman nods and the two bats walk into Ryan's room in the Cave. "What is it, Ryan?"

"You knew, didn't you?!" Ryan immediately gets angry.

"Knew what?" Batman asks.

"That the Joker is my Uncle!" Ryan almost screams at him.

"Oh… that…" Batman says.

"I had a _right_ to know, a _glorified right_ to know! A right that _you_ denied me!" Ryan says.

"It wasn't my idea to keep it from you." Batman says. "It was your father's idea."

"What? Why would he do that?" Ryan asks, still a little angry, but also confused.

"He told me… He told me that he didn't think you were _ready_ to know." The Dark Knight says.

"Wasn't ready? If I was twelve, sure, that would make sense, but I'm fifteen. Why wouldn't I be ready?" Ryan says.

"He didn't tell me why he thought that, but I get a feeling that he never actually planned on telling you." Batman says. "Now, I think we're done here." He walks out of the room.

"ARIAS, did you know about this beforehand?" Ryan says once the door closes.

"No sir. Your father never programmed this piece of data into my databanks." ARIAS says.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Three day weekend! Yay! Thank you Martin Luther King Jr.! Anyway, please favorite, follow, and review!**


	21. No School!

_Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Kid Flash B-0-3._

Ryan and Wally walk into the Cave on the thirtieth of October.

"Hey, Ryan!" M'gann walks into the room.

"Hey, M'gann! What's up?" Ryan smiles.

"Not much. I was just finishing up a batch of pumpkin cookies when I heard you announced." She says.

"And I'm sure they'll be just as sweet as you are, babe." Wally says. Ryan rolls his eyes.

"Wrong holiday, Kid Idiot." Ryan says, punching the speedster's arm.

"Oh, shut up!" Wally says. M'gann laughs.

"Anyway, Ryan, Wally, I was hoping you two would come to the Halloween party that Happy Harbor High is throwing." M'gann says.

"I'm there." Wally says.

"How about you, Ryan?" M'gann asks.

"I'd rather not. I'm going through a lot. Halloween is only going to bring back bad memories." Ryan explains. "But I appreciate the invitation."

"Oh… that's okay." M'gann says, a little disappointed, but understanding.

"Hey, have you guys seen Kaldur anywhere?" Ryan asks.

"He's spending Halloween in Atlantis." M'gann says. "Apparently, they celebrate something similar there."

"Okay, thanks." Ryan says.

* * *

That same night, Ryan is in his new home. He's watching the TV when there's a loud crashing noise outside.

"What the…" Ryan says.

He gets up and walks outside to find a large fire in the distance. Instinctively, Ryan runs into the backyard and presses the button on his belt. He flies to the fire.

When he arrives at the fire, he sees that the burning building is the high school. "Well, good news is there's no school tomorrow." He says.

"Really sir?" ARIAS says.

"I know, too soon." Ryan says as he lands.

"Oh, thank God!" The fire chief walks over to the Iron Bat. "The fire is too strong for us to put out." He says.

"Is anyone in the building?" The Iron Bat asks.

"Quite a few students and teachers." The chief says.

"I've located the students and teachers, sir." ARIAS says.

"ARIAS, activate cooling systems." Ryan says.

"With the cooling systems on at one hundred percent, you will only have three minutes to rescue forty-three people." ARIAS responds.

Ryan sighs. "This was so much easier when I had the Legend's help."

"Should I call for help, sir?" ARIAS asks.

"Please do. Call Zatanna." Ryan says, flying into the building.

"She stayed after school, remember?" ARIAS says.

"Shoot!" Ryan says. "Contact Kid Flash."

"Contacting Kid Flash." ARIAS says.

"Ryan, what's up?" Wally says.

"Central City High is up in flames. There are forty-three people trapped in the building. I can only stay in the building for another two minutes, thirty seconds before my cooling systems go offline and I have to leave." Ryan says, looking for Zatanna.

"I'm on my way." Wally says.

"Have you found her, ARIAS?" Ryan says.

"No, sir. But you should save some of the other people while you look. That _is_ the point of being a superhero." ARIAS says, sounding a little disappointed, even though computers can't have feelings.

"I know, I know." Ryan rolls his eyes. He searches for unconscious students and teachers. He finds a woman and a boy stuck underneath some rubble.

"Two minutes left, sir."

Ryan flies over to them and lifts the rubble off of them. He picks them up, slinging them over his shoulders. He flies out of the building and hands them to the firefighters waiting outside.

"One minute, thirty seconds, sir." ARIAS says. "Also, I've located a source of magic coming from the library."

"Zatanna." Ryan flies to the school's library. He finds Zatanna inside a magical barrier which is protecting other, conscious, students and teachers.

"Iron Bat… Oh, thank God!" Zatanna says, struggling to keep the barrier up.

"Just hold on, Zatanna. Kid Flash is on his way. He'll be able to help." Ryan says.

"Forty-five seconds and counting, sir." ARIAS says.

"I have forty-five seconds. Let me get two of them out of here." Iron Bat says. "Also, all of you. If you tell anyone about her having powers, the League _will_ come after you. I hate having to say that, but I have to."

They all nod. Zatanna lets two of the students out.

"Thirty seconds left."

Ryan quickly slings them over his shoulders. He flies them out.

"Five… Four… Three… Two… One…" ARIAS counts down.

Ryan makes it out at the last second.

"System overheating. Ejecting in five…" ARIAS starts.

"Override code 0-7-2." Ryan says, placing the students on the ground.

"Code accepted. Rebooting." ARIAS says. The suit starts to reboot. Ryan isn't able to move.

Kid Flash arrives. He immediately runs straight into the school and rapidly starts rescuing people.

"Reboot complete." ARIAS says. Ryan is able to move again.

"Kid Flash, Zatanna is in the library protecting a group of people with a magic barrier. She's struggling to keep it intact, but she's losing her grip. You need to hurry." Ryan says over the comms.

"On it, Iron Bat." The speedster says. He runs into the library to find Zatanna. Her legs are shaking and she has sweat flowing down her face. "Zatanna!"

"Kid Flash. Good. Get them out of here." The barrier opens on the side closest to the redhead.

Wally nods and starts speeding people out of the building. Once he gets the last of the people out, he runs back to the library to get Zatanna out of there. When he arrives he sees that the ceiling has caved in, Zatanna nowhere in sight. "IB, I can't find Zatanna. The ceiling has caved in and she's not here."

"ARIAS, are the cooling systems online?" Ryan says.

"No, sir." ARIAS says.

"I'm coming in." Ryan says over the comms.

"What?! No! You heard ARIAS! You won't last a minute in there without your cooling systems!" Wally says.

"Emergency protocol code 0-4-6." Ryan says.

"Code accepted. Re-routing all auxiliary power to cooling systems." ARIAS says. "Cooling systems online at thirty percent. You have fifty-four seconds upon entering the building until the cooling systems go offline, after which you will have another forty seconds before all systems go offline, sir."

"Long enough." Ryan says. He flies into the school, straight to the library.

"You're an idiot, you know?" Wally says.

"Look who's talking." Ryan says. "ARIAS, thermal vision. Block out anything that is as hot as the fire or hotter."

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says.

Ryan starts throwing debris out his way, digging to find his adoptive sister. After a bit of digging with his hands, he stops and steps back. He then fires some small missiles at the pile of rubble. The explode on impact and reveal Zatanna under the pile. "Get her out of here. I'll follow." Ryan says.

Wally nods and does so.

"Fifteen seconds until complete shutdown." ARIAS says.

Ryan immediately starts flying out of the building. But, he runs out of time.

"Systems shutting down…" ARIAS says. The suit's thrusters stop working and Ryan falls to the floor, unable to move.

"Shit!" Ryan says, as the screens inside his helmet disappear.

Wally arrives outside of the school. He hands Zatanna over to another firefighter.

"Where's the Iron Bat?" The firefighter asks.

"Dammit! He's still in there!" Wally says. He speeds back inside. He finds Ryan on the floor in a hallway. "You owe me _big time,_ buddy." He attempts to pick Ryan up, but fails. The suit is way too heavy for him. "I don't have time for this!"

All of a sudden, another suit appears in front of Wally. It opens. "Get in, Mister West." ARIAS says.

"Whoa." Wally does as she says. The suit closes around him.

"Welcome to the Speedster-Buster armor." ARIAS says.

"'Speedster-Buster?'"

"Yes sir. The Iron Legend designed this suit along with Star Labs to be able to face off against the Flash should he turn on the world." ARIAS explains. "But, it has other uses."

"That's a smart idea." Wally says.

"It should also be strong enough to carry Ryan out of here." ARIAS says.

Wally nods and tries again. He succeeds this time. He speeds out of the school.

"Rebooting." ARIAS says to Ryan. "Suit functioning at twenty-five percent."

Ryan gets back up.

"I see ARIAS got the Speedster-Buster here in time." Ryan says.

"Yeah. This thing is awesome!" Wally says.

"Vacuum." Ryan says.

"What?" Wally says.

"Create a vacuum!" Ryan says. "To put out the fire!"

"Oh, right!" The redhead starts speeding around the school, creating a vacuum that puts out the fire. He stops in front of Ryan.

"ARIAS, get him out of there." Ryan says.

The Speedster-Buster opens and pushes Wally out of itself. It closes.

"Send it back home." Ryan says. The armor speeds away. "You don't get to tell anyone about that Buster-Armor."

"You say that like there's more than one." Wally says, smirking.

Ryan catches his mistake and immediately scoffs. "Now I have to show you, don't I?"

"Yep." Wally smiles.

"Tomorrow." Ryan says. "But you do _not_ tell _anyone_ about this. If you do, I'll sick the Speedster-Buster on you. And trust me, it _is_ faster than you."

Wally just nods. He then speeds away.

Ryan walks over to the fire chief. "Are they all going to be okay, chief?"

"Yes, they'll be fine. The last girl you brought me wouldn't be if she had been in there for about another minute, so it's a good thing you got her out when you did." The fire chief says.

"Sir, I suspect that the fire was arson. It was no accident." ARIAS says.

"Heatwave, probably. Can you locate him?" Ryan asks.

"He's in Keystone, sir."

"Then it wasn't Heatwave. Are there any serial arsonists in Central City tonight?"

"No, sir. None that have made themselves known."

"Well then, I guess I'll just leave it to the police, then." Ryan looks to the fire chief. "Tell the police that this was arson."

"You got it."

Ryan nods and flies away.

* * *

 **That's the chapter!**

 **So, the Blizzard of 2016 is upon us. Well, shoveling is no fun, that's for sure.**

 **Please remember to follow, favorite, and review!**


	22. Halloween

**I'm going to start doing the thing that they do on the show where they state the date, location, and time.**

* * *

 _Central City, Missouri_

 _Sunday, October 31_

 _9:07 C.S.T._

* * *

Ryan walks into the kitchen looking like he'd been fighting a fire for hours, which is pretty close to what actually happened.

"What happened?" Giovanni asks.

"Rescued people from a fire last night. Including her." Ryan nods his head at Zatanna.

"What!?"

 _"Shit. Me and my big mouth."_ Ryan says under his breath.

Zatanna just smiles, knowing what comes next.

* * *

 _Happy Harbor, Rhode Island_

 _Sunday, October 31_

 _19:34 E.D.T._

* * *

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3. Artemis B-0-8._

The two adoptive siblings and archer walk out of the zeta tube. Ryan is wearing his civilian clothes. Zatanna is wearing a witch costume. Artemis is in a vampire costume. They see Wally in a teenage werewolf costume and M'gann in a zombie costume, wrapping Connor in bandages, or toilet paper it was hard for them to tell from that angle. Captain Marvel is also wearing zombie makeup.

"Oh, hey Zatanna. You look great. You too Ryan. What are you supposed to be, exactly?" Artemis asks.

"He's himself this Halloween." Zatanna says. "And, thanks, you too."

They walk up to see the captain.

"Oh, look. Zombie Captain Marvel. That's hilarious." Zatanna says. "Is the Justice League having a party? 'Cause my dad didn't mention it."

"No, no, no, no, see, I…" Captain Marvel scratches his head. "Fine. I'm going trick-or-treating." He flies over to a zeta tube.

 _Recognized. Captain Marvel 1-5._

"And I'm not sharing my candy." He says before being teleported away.

They hear M'gann giggling behind them.

"So, how long have Connor and Megan been a couple?" Zatanna asks Artemis.

"Artemis laughs and says "A couple? No. They're not a…" She then trails off.

"Would you please stop fidgeting?" Miss Martian says.

"You are so making this up to me later." Connor says.

Artemis turns and walks back to the zeta tubes.

Ryan notices and frowns.

"Uh, I-I'm sorry." Zatanna says, completely forgetting that Artemis and Ryan are in a relationship. "It just seemed so obvious. I-I didn't realize… Wait, the dance."

"Not in the mood." Artemis says. "Of course, sitting at home with my mom doesn't sound any more appealing."

"Well, there is another option." Zatanna says. She then casts a spell that changes the two into their hero outfits. "Girls' night out."

Artemis smirks and the two head out.

 _Recognized. Artemis B-0-8. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3._

"Ryan, are you sure you don't want to come?" M'gann asks.

"Yes, I'm sure, M'gann." Ryan says with a chuckle.

"Okay then, your loss." M'gann says with a shrug.

 _Recognized. Kid Flash B-0-3. Superboy B-0-4. Miss Martian B-0-5._

Ryan now had the Cave to himself. He walks over to the gym. He walks over to a punching bag and starts attacking it furiously. Eventually, he puts his suit on and fires his repulsor beam at his target. The beam went straight through the punching bag, leaving a hole in it.

"What did that poor punching bag ever do to you?" Ryan turns around to see Robin leaning on the wall by the door.

Ryan just rolls his eyes as the suit goes back into his belt and he turns back to the punching bag.

Robin walks over to him. "You're hiding something from the team. What is it?"

Ryan raises an eyebrow at the Boy Wonder. "What makes you think that?"

"You're not letting anyone help you anymore." Robin says. "You're not going to therapy, you're avoiding the team, and you're not even making as many quips as you usually do."

"So?" Ryan walks over to another punching bag.

"So you're doing all of that to avoid slipping a hint to whatever it is that you're hiding."

"You know what?!" Ryan whips around to face Robin. "I've had a very hard month. So, how about you leave me alone instead of prying into my personal business, rich boy!"

"'Rich boy?' What are you talking about?"

"Batman told me his identity and yours, Grayson."

"What?! When was this?"

"When you got captured by the Joker two days ago."

"Why would he do that?"

"To make sure I didn't let you die. But that's not the point of this conversation. Leave me alone. I'll tell the team when I'm ready. Okay?"

Robin just nods. Ryan walks out of the room and, after calming down, to the zeta tubes.

 _Recognized. Aqualad B-0-2._

"Hello, Ryan." Kaldur says.

"Hey Kaldur." Ryan says. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course."

"Somewhere more private, perhaps."

The two head to Ryan's room in the Cave. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Ryan sits on the bed. "The night the Joker captured you and the rest of the Team, the Joker told me that he was my Uncle."

"That… that can't be right."

"Both ARIAS and Batman confirmed it."

"Well… Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I trust you, and I know you trust me." Ryan explains.

"Well why would I trust you, now?"

"Because if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."

Kaldur ponders on this for a few seconds. "True, but how do I know you won't betray the Team?"

"You don't. I don't. But I'll be sure to let you know whenever he tries to contact me."

Kaldur sighs. "You're making it hard for me to actually trust you, Ryan."

"Kaldur, I came to you, the Team leader, with this information first because I knew that you would understand that I've only just learned this and I was just as shocked by it as you are." Ryan explains. "I know you'll still trust me because you're my friend, Kaldur, and friends always give friends the benefit of the doubt."

"You're right. I am sorry for troubling you like that." Kaldur says.

"No, you had reason to doubt." Ryan says. "But can we keep this between the three of us?"

"There is only two of us." Kaldur asks, confused.

"No, there's three of us." Ryan starts walking toward the door. "There's me, there's you, and then…" Ryan presses the button on the control panel, opening the door and Robin falls through the doorway. "… there's Robin."

"Heeeeyyyyy, IB! What's up?" Robin says.

"You can't live without eavesdropping, can you?" Ryan says.

Robin shakes his head.

"We keep this between the three of us. Zatanna, Batman, and the Atom also know." Ryan says.

"Agreed." Kaldur says.

"You got it, IB." Robin says. They all walk out of the room.

 _Recognized. Artemis B-0-8. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3._

Ryan walks over to the zeta tubes to greet the girls. He finds them covered in bruises and a few cuts.

"What the hell happened to you two?" He asks them.

They both smirk and say "Secret."

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Sorry it took me so long. Life happened. Please remember to favorite, follow, and review.**


	23. Revelations

_Central City, Missouri_

 _November 2, 2010_

 _3:59 C.S.T._

* * *

Ryan walks into the kitchen after school is over, where he sees Giovanni waiting for him. He has a grim look on his face.

"Ryan…" He starts.

"Giovan- Dad… what is it?" Ryan says.

"First off, Giovanni is fine. Second, I have something for you…" Giovanni says.

"Who from?" Ryan asks.

"From… your father." Giovanni says, reluctantly.

"What? How?" Ryan scratches his head.

"He gave it to me when he was alive and told me to give it to you should he die." Giovanni takes a flash drive out of his pocket. "He said not to show it to you until a week or so after his death."

Ryan takes it from the magician's hand. "Thank you." He says.

Giovanni nods.

Ryan walks into the living room, where Zatanna is watching TV. She notices the flash drive. "What's that?"

"A flash drive." Ryan says, jokingly. Zatanna rolls her eyes. "But it's from my father." Ryan says. Zatanna widens her eyes.

"What?" Zatanna says.

"My father gave it to your father to give to me if he died." Ryan explains.

"Well, put it in." Zatanna says, grabbing a laptop.

Ryan sticks the drive into the side of the computer, but it doesn't fit. Ryan then takes a look at the shape of the flash drive. "I know this shape. There's a plug shaped just like it in the lab under my old home." Ryan says.

"Well, let's go." They turn to see Wally standing there.

"What are you…" Ryan starts.

"You never showed me the Buster-Armors." Wally says.

"Your mouth is moving faster than your brain can comprehend, Kid Idiot." Ryan says.

Wally thinks then sees Zatanna. "Shoot!" He says.

"What's a 'Buster-Armor?'" Zatanna asks.

"I'll show you when we get there." Ryan says.

They head to Ryan's old house.

"ARIAS." Ryan says.

"Unlocking the door, sir." ARIAS says.

The group walks back into the house. They walk to the library. Ryan places his hand on the panel and the elevator opens.

Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3. Kid Flash B-0-3.

"Code B9." Ryan says.

"Code accepted." ARIAS says. The elevator lowers, but stops later than it usually does. The door opens to reveal a different hall of armors.

"Whoa…" Wally starts. "How many basements do you have?"

"Ten or eleven. Never really counted how many there are." Ryan says.

"There are twelve different levels underneath the house above." ARIAS says.

"I was close." Ryan says. He walks to the armors on display. "The name my father gave the project was 'Project League-Buster,' but I think that's a stupid name, so I call them the Red Kryptonite Contingency Suits."

"Whoa…" Wally says, again.

"We have the Krypton-Buster, the Speedster-Buster, the Martian-Buster, the Atlantean-Buster, the Archer-Buster, the Bat-Buster, the Atom-Buster, and the Magician-Buster." Ryan says, going down the line.

"This is… amazing." Zatanna says.

"Yes, yes. But that's not the only reason we're here." Ryan says, pulling the flash drive from his pocket. They walk back into the elevator which brings them to the lab.

Ryan searches for the plug. Once he finds it, he sticks the drive into it.

"Key inserted. Activating Revelations Protocol." ARIAS says.

"Revelations Protocol? What's that?" Wally asks.

"No idea." Ryan says.

A hologram of Devin appears in the middle of the room. "Ryan." It says.

"Dad." Ryan says.

"If you're watching this, it means I'm dead and Giovanni has given you the key. The Revelations Protocol is the final protocol ARIAS will execute on my order." The hologram says. "The first parameter is to show you this message. The next is to show you all of the secrets I've kept from you."

"All of them?! There's more?" Surprisingly, Wally says this. He sees the confused looks on Zatanna and Ryan's faces. "Oh, right. Robin told me about the Joker being your uncle.

"I really need to go over the definition of 'between the three of us' with him." Ryan says.

"I assume that you've already learned that the Joker is your uncle, but if you haven't, then, ummmm… surprise!" The hologram says. "I don't know how it happened. Nobody does."

"Really? Not even you?" Ryan mutters to himself.

"I kept this to myself because I didn't think you were ready to know." The hologram says. "The next secret is, by far, the biggest."

"Ooh! I wonder what it is." Wally says.

"Ryan… you have a sister."

* * *

 **That's the chapter! This has to be my biggest cliffhanger yet! But, I dunno. Anyway, please remember to favorite, follow, and review!**


	24. A Sister

_Central City, Missouri_

 _November 2, 2010_

 _16:18 C.S.T._

* * *

"What?" Ryan says.

"Gotta admit, didn't see that one coming." Wally says.

"A sister… as if your life wasn't complicated enough." Zatanna says.

"Her name is Maria. She lives in Star City. She was born only one year after you." The hologram says. "When your mother died, I knew I couldn't take care of both of you. So, I found a family who was looking to adopt a baby girl."

"A sister…" Ryan says.

"I never told you this because I didn't want you to want to meet her. I didn't want to make your life or her life any more complicated." The hologram says. "I wish I could've been able to take care of her, but I just couldn't. She knows she's adopted, so going to meet her won't ruin her life or anything. But, please, take it slow. She has had the two of us out of her life for fourteen years. She might not be ready to meet you. If you want to meet her, you need to contact her adoptive parents, first. If they say you can meet her, then you can contact Maria. You can only meet her if she says that she's ready to meet you."

"I have a sister…" Ryan says.

"You know what? I could've sworn I had more secrets, guess not." The hologram says. "Anyway, remember the zeta-transporter that's down on the bottom floor? That should be online, now. This way you don't have to fly to the house every time you want to get to the lab."

"A sister…" Ryan says… again, still shocked.

"Ryan, stay strong. I may be gone, but I'll always be with you. And remember, I love you." The hologram says before disappearing.

"That's the end of the recording, sir." ARIAS says.

"A sister…" Ryan says.

"Pans tuo fo ti!" Zatanna casts a spell that makes Ryan focus again.

"Sorry. That was just a huge shock." Ryan says. "He said that the zeta-tube was online? Let's get back to the Cave."

They walk into the elevator, but not before Ryan grabs the 'key.'

"ARIAS, bottom floor." Ryan says.

The elevator goes to the bottom floor. When they leave the elevator, they see the zeta-tube is online. They walk into it.

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Kid Flash B-0-3. Zatanna Zatara A-0-3._

* * *

 _Happy Harbor, Rhode Island_

 _November 2, 2010_

 _16:35 C.S.T._

* * *

The three walk out of the zeta-tube. Ryan heads to the training room, where he can usually find Artemis. Usually. Not this time. He then hears a crashing sound coming from the kitchen and then the sound of Wally yelling.

"Kid Idiot. He's already gotten himself into trouble." Ryan says to nobody in particular. He walks to the kitchen to find the redhead arguing with Artemis… again.

"… where you're going!" Artemis almost screams at Wally.

"Maybe you should watch where you leave your bow!" Wally responds. Ryan then notices the broken bow in Artemis' hand.

"Oh my God, what did you do this time, Kid Idiot?" Robin walks in.

"It looks like he tripped on Artemis' bow, breaking it, but looks can be deceiving." Ryan says, shrugging.

Dick sighs. "C'mon, Wally. I think your uncle wanted to see you."

The two best friends walk out of the kitchen.

Ryan walks over to Artemis. "Well… that's Wally for you! One minute he's only just arrived, the next, he's already gotten himself into trouble." He says.

"He's an idiot." Artemis says. "Where have you been?"

"My dad's lab under my old house." Ryan says. "He left me a message, apparently, for Giovanni to give me."

"Oh…" Artemis says.

"It's fine. I'm fine… kinda." Ryan says.

"Do you wanna, I don't know, talk about it?" Artemis asks.

"Yeah… that'd be nice." Ryan says, smiling.

The two walk into Ryan's room in the Cave.

"So what was in the message?" Artemis asks.

"In the message… he told me I have a sister. A biological sister." Ryan says.

"Holy…" Artemis says.

"I know." Ryan says. "It's a lot to take in." He sits on his bed.

"Well, I can help." Artemis says, sitting in his lap.

Ryan smiles. "I think I'll take you up on that." He says. He leans in and starts kissing Artemis. The two keep kissing passionately for quite a while.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Please remember to follow, favorite, and review!**


	25. Misplaced - Part One

**Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to the lullaby.**

 **Note: The lullaby is "Goodnight my Friend" from ABC's "Galavant." Look it up.**

* * *

 _Gotham City, New Jersey_

 _November 5, 2010_

 _19:45 E.D.T._

* * *

Ryan is in Gotham, waiting outside the train station for Alfred to pick him up. Dick had invited him to the Manor to sleep over for a night or so.

"C'mon, where is he?" Ryan asks no one in particular.

As if on cue, a limousine pulls up in front of him. Alfred walks out of the driver's seat and opens the door for Ryan. "Master Ryan." He says.

"Alfred." Ryan says with a smile. He gets into the limo.

Alfred smiles back and closes the door once Ryan is seated. He then gets into the driver's seat. Once he straps himself in, he starts driving to the Manor.

"I kinda figured Dick would've come with you to greet me." Ryan says.

"Master Richard is helping out at the Cave. He said he'd be back at the Manor at around eight thirty." Alfred says. "Might I ask why you didn't just zeta to Gotham? It seems like a long train ride from Missouri to New Jersey."

"I tried, it didn't work for some reason. So, I zeta-ed to Manhattan and took the train from there, as to not draw any kind of suspicion." Ryan explains.

"Why wouldn't it be workin-" Alfred starts before just disappearing.

"What the…" Ryan starts before realizing nobody's driving. He climbs into the driver's seat. "ARIAS, how do you drive a limo?"

"Allow me, sir." ARIAS says.

"Be my guest." Ryan says, putting his armor on. ARIAS takes control of the armor and starts driving the limo, though not for long. The suit flies through the roof of the limo as they are about to crash. Once in the air, Ryan sees that a large amount of cars on the road are out of control. "What's going on?" He says.

"Where's mommy?!" Ryan hears a little girl scream.

"What?! Where's my dad?!" Ryan hears a teenage boy say.

"ARIAS, where are all of the adults?" Ryan asks.

"Sir… everyone in the world that is eighteen years old or older has just… disappeared." ARIAS says.

"We need to get to the Cave." Ryan says. "Contact Aqualad."

"Contacting…" ARIAS says.

"Ryan?" Aqualad says on the other end.

"I'm guessing you're experiencing the same phenomenon that I am?" Ryan says.

"Wait, _all_ adults are gone?" Kaldur asks.

"ARIAS just gave me a worldwide reading. Everyone in the world who is eighteen years old or older has disappeared." Ryan says.

"Get to the Cave as quickly as possible." Kaldur says.

"Already on my way." Ryan says.

* * *

 _Mount Justice, Rhode Island_

 _November 5, 2010_

 _19:53 E.D.T._

* * *

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6._

Ryan walks out of the zeta-tube to find the rest of the team, and Zatanna, waiting for him.

"Ryan…" Aqualad starts.

"At seven forty-seven PM Eastern Daylight Time today, every adult vanished for unknown reasons. The most likely case would be magic, but I am currently unable to tell." Ryan says. "The streets are in chaos and the kids are all panicked. We need to get a message out to them."

"The last time we did that, we were in a mental simulation." Wally points out.

"Well, this time, we're doing it in the real world." Ryan says. "We need to set up camps where we can take care of the children who can't take care of themselves, preferably the high schools. I'll set one up in Star City."

"I'll set one up in Gotham. Miss Martian, Happy Harbor. Superboy, Central City. Kid Flash, Keystone. Artemis, Metropolis. Robin, Zatanna, you two will stay at the cave and search for any sign of adults in case ARIAS missed something. Once we're done, we'll meet back at the Happy Harbor camp." Kaldur says. Everyone nods.

"By the way, the Gotham zeta-transporter isn't working for some reason, you might have to swim to Gotham from Manhattan." Ryan informs the Atlantean. "Also, the high school in Central City burned down."

"Then tell Superboy to set one up at the middle school." Kaldur says.

Ryan nods and does so. He then walks up to Robin. "By the way, you might need a new limo after all of this is over." He says. He then walks to the zeta-tubes.

Robin lifts an eyebrow, not understanding what he meant.

 _Recognized. Kid Flash B-0-3. Superboy, B-0-4. Iron Bat B-0-6. Artemis B-0-8._

 _Recognized. Aqualad B-0-2. Error. Gotham transporter out of order. Directing B-0-2 to transporter nearest to Gotham: Manhattan._

* * *

 _Star City, California._

 _November 5, 2010_

 _16:56 P.D.T._

* * *

Ryan flies over to Star City High School.

"Sir, you know that, even if you did find her, now would be a horrible time to introduce yourself." ARIAS says.

"Yes, I know. I just want to make sure that she's okay." Ryan says. "Now, broadcast."

"Connecting to all televisions, radios, cellphones, and other devices that can be broadcasted to… Connected." ARIAS says.

"Children and teenagers of Star City." Ryan starts. "I am the Iron Bat. I am setting up a camp at the high school for children who can't take care of themselves. I need the oldest among you to help out. Meet me outside the high school."

"Ending broadcast." ARIAS says.

"ARIAS, prepare the Magician-Buster. Who knows what caused this." Ryan says.

"Yes sir. Person in need of rescue on your five." ARIAS says.

Ryan flies to where the person ARIAS mentioned is. He sees a car hanging off of a bridge.

He flies down to the car and rips the door off. He finds a girl who is about fourteen years of age, has scarlet hair and is unconscious and stuck under a piece of bent metal.

He grabs the piece of metal and bends it so that the girl isn't stuck under it anymore. He grabs her and flies her out of the car just before the car falls into the water underneath the bridge. He then notices that the girl's leg has a huge gash in it, her arm is bruised all over, and her other arm is clearly broken. He immediately flies her to the high school. He finds that a group of teens have already arrived. He lands in front of them. "Please tell me at least one of you knows how, and is able to treat her."

Two of them nod. "We're both Boy Scouts, so we should be able to help her." One of them says.

Ryan hands the girl over to that one, and both of them run into the school, the other carrying a First-Aid kit he had brought. Ryan turns to the rest of them.

"The rest of you, go out and rescue who you can. Direct them here. I have other things to attend to." Ryan says. The group nods and Ryan flies away.

"Sir, the girl you just rescued… She has the same DNA as Maria." ARIAS says.

"Good to know. But, for now, let's get to the lab, then back to Rhode Island. Tell the Cave that the Star City camp is up and running."

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says.

Ryan lands in front of the zeta-transporter and walks in. "Iron Bat B-0-6. Destination: Iron Legend's Lab."

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Destination not recognized. Please repeat destination name._

"Iron Bat's Lab, sir." ARIAS tells Ryan.

"Destination: Iron Bat's Lab." Ryan says.

 _Destination recognized. Altering destination to Iron Bat's Lab, Central City, Missouri._

* * *

 _Central City, Missouri_

 _November 5, 2010_

 _19:07 C.D.T._

* * *

Ryan walks out of the zeta-tube and into what is now, apparently, _his_ lab. He walks into the elevator.

"Is the Magician-Buster ready?" Ryan says.

"Yes sir." ARIAS says. The elevator takes him to Project League-Buster.

He walks out of the elevator to see the Magician-Buster waiting for him. He pushes the button on his belt. He then pushes a button on the other armor, making it fold into a metal sphere that Ryan can hold in his hand. He puts it in his bag and heads back to the zeta-tube underneath him.

"Iron Bat B-0-6. Destination: Happy Harbor." Ryan says.

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Destination recognized. Altering destination to Happy Harbor, Rhode Island._

* * *

 _Happy Harbor, Rhode Island_

 _November 5, 2010_

 _20:18 E.D.T._

* * *

Ryan starts walking over to the high school. Once he arrives, Wally and M'gann walk up next to him. They smile at each other, then walk into the gymnasium.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star… ummm… Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Three bags full." They hear Artemis sing in front of a group of children.

The children start laughing. "That's not 'Twinkle, Twinkle.' That's 'Baa Baa Black Sheep!" One of them says.

"Um… oh!" Artemis starts again. " V"

The children start laughing again. "That's 'ABC's!"

Wally, Ryan, and M'gann walk up to her. She gets up from where she was sitting and turns to them.

"Did you call home?" Artemis asks Wally.

"No answer." The redhead says.

"You could zeta there." Artemis suggests.

"I've been collecting kids all day. I don't need to see another empty house." Wally says.

Connor then walks in with three kids, two in his arms and one on his head. "Got three more."

Ryan walks over to the group of kids Artemis was entertaining before. "Hey, who's tired?" He asks them. Most of them raise their hands as Connor sets his three kids on the floor. "Well, should I sing you a lullaby?" Ryan asks. The kids nod.

Ryan sits where Artemis was sitting before.

" _Lay by my side, and we'll sail away  
Off to the shores of another day  
All set to go once I hear you say  
Goodnight my friend, until the morning_

" _Up we will float as we close our eyes  
Stars all around us like fireflies  
Just me and you drifting through the skies  
Goodnight my friend_

" _Not a thought  
Not a care  
Resting safe and sound  
With each other there_

" _And so we'll rock on a nighttime ride  
Cozy and warm on the rolling tide  
Till we arrive on the morning side  
Our journey's end_

" _Goodnight  
Sleep tight  
We're gonna be alright  
Goodnight my friend."_ Ryan sings in a beautiful, soothing voice. By the end of the song, all of the kids are asleep.

Artemis walks over and places her hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"I never knew you had such a good voice." She says.

"I never knew you could make children laugh." Ryan says with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up." Artemis says, punching her boyfriend in the shoulder.

Ryan just laughs, rubbing his shoulder.

"Team, return to the Cave." Aqualad says over the comms.

"On our way." Ryan says. And, with that, they leave.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Please follow, favorite, and review!**


	26. Misplaced - Part Two

**PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!**

 **(Not really, but it's important to the story.) Remember that part about Artemis knowing that the Joker is Ryan's uncle? Yeah, forget all about that! If Artemis were to know it would only leave three people who don't know: Roy, Connor, and M'gann. That's not very many people. I will be taking that part out of the corresponding chapter. Thank you for listening to this public service announcement and enjoy the chapter! :)**

* * *

 _Mount Justice, Rhode Island_

 _November 5, 2010_

 _20:23 E.D.T._

* * *

 _Recognized. Kid Flash B-0-3. Artemis B-0-8. Iron Bat B-0-6. Miss Martian B-0-5. Superboy B-0-4._

The group walks out of the zeta-tube and walk up to Aqualad and Robin, who have been waiting. "We're ready to broadcast." Kaldur says.

"You go on without me. I have to check on something." Ryan says, walking away. He walks to the TV room and sits on the couch. He takes out the sphere and presses a button on it. A holographic screen shoots out of it. The screen shows the levels of power and energy of the suit. All of them are in the green zone. He presses the button again and the screen disappears. He puts it back in his pocket. Zatanna walks in.

"So, this is quite the situation we have here." She says.

"Yeah, the adults are gone, leaving us to clean up the mess." Ryan agrees.

"Well, let's hope that we can clean it up before it becomes permanent." Zatanna says.

"Yeah… let's hope." Ryan says.

"What is it?" Zatanna says.

"What? What makes you think something's the matter?" Ryan says.

"Ryan, I've known you for nine years. I should know, better than anyone, when something's wrong with you." The magician's daughter says.

Ryan sighs. "In Star City, I came across Maria."

"Really?" Zatanna says. "Did you get to introduce yourself?"

"Even if I had the chance, I wouldn't have." Ryan says. "Not in the midst of all of this chaos."

"Why didn't you have a chance?" Zatanna asks.

"She was unconscious." Ryan says. "Her leg had a huge gash in it, one arm was broken and the other was bruised everywhere."

"What? Is she okay?!" Zatanna says, worried about someone she hasn't even met.

"I gave her to two Boy Scouts. I just hope they were able to help her." Ryan says.

Zatanna sits next to him. "Maria will be fine. I'm sure of it."

Ryan smiles. "Thanks, Zee."

"No problem." She says. She then kisses him on the cheek. "Come on, I'm ready to try my father's locator spell." She walks toward the door then stops. " _Egnahc sehtolc otni ym mrofinu!"_ Zatanna casts this spell to change into her hero outfit.

Ryan chuckles to himself and heads to the command center. Zatanna, Wally, and Kaldur follow shortly after. A holographic globe appears in the middle of the room. Zatanna walks up to it.

" _Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!"_ A red dot appears on the east coast of the U.S.

"Coordinates locked. Roanoke Island. You did it!" Robin says.

"You sound surprised." Ryan says.

"Shut up!" Robin says.

Ryan smirks. He then walks up to Zatanna. He sees that she's frowning.

"I promise, Zatanna. We'll fix this and get Giovanni, and all of the adults, back." Ryan comforts his adoptive sister.

"We should get ready." Robin says.

* * *

 _November 6, 2010_

 _00:02 E.D.T._

* * *

The Team, and Zatanna, are going over the plan when they hear a lightning bolt strike and some kid yelling "Shazam!" behind them. They all turn to see a boy in a red hoodie behind them. "It works!" He says.

"Where did you come from? Who are you?" Aqualad says.

"Quick, read my mind!" The boy says to M'gann.

The Martian reads the boy's mind. "He's Captain Marvel!" She says.

"Yeah, and I'm Speedy Gonzalez. Look, just because he _believes_ he's Cap-" Wally says.

"Gee, Wally, do I really have to bring you nachos and pineapple juice to get on your good side?" The boy says.

Wally just stands there, astonished.

"Wait. Can you hear that?" Ryan says.

"What is it?" Robin asks.

"It's… it's the most amazing thing: the sound of Wally not talking!" Ryan says.

"Shut up!" Wally says.

"Aaaaand it's gone!" Ryan says, snickering.

Wally just scoffs.

"Anyway, back to business." Ryan says. "What's your name?"

"Billy Batson." The boy says.

"Okay, Billy, how is it even possible that someone your age is Captain Marvel?" Robin asks.

"That's a story for another time." Billy says. "What's important now is that the adults _aren't_ gone, just in another dimension."

"And you know this, how?" Wally asks.

Artemis slaps him in the back of the head. "Because he can _obviously_ travel between the two. How do you think he got in here in the first place?!"

"Exactly." Billy says.

"But how _can_ you turn from child to Cap?" Ryan asks.

"When I say… uh…" Billy starts before motioning to M'gann.

"When he says 'shazam,' he turns to Cap, and vice versa." M'gann says.

"Yep!" Billy says.

"You know, this means we can communicate with the adults." Robin says.

"I'll go tell them!" Billy says. "Shazam!" Lightning strikes and he's gone.

"That's gonna take some getting used to." Wally says.

Later that night, Ryan is in his room at the Cave. He is watching a slideshow of pictures of him and his father. He hears a knock on the door and he turns the slideshow off. "Come in!"

Robin walks in. "We're ready to head out to Roanoke. C'mon." He says.

They both head to the hangar where M'gann is waiting with the bioship.

"Come on, you two! Get in!" M'gann says.

Once inside the ship, they take their seats and the bioship straps them in.

"Ryan, could you…" M'gann starts.

"ARIAS, override Cave controls. Emergency code K-V-7-3-9. Open hangar doors." Ryan says.

"Code accepted. Opening hangar doors." ARIAS says.

The hangar doors open and M'gann flies the bioship out of the Cave.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! The next chapter will be coming out literally minutes after this one. Please remember to favorite, follow, and review!**


	27. Misplaced - Part Three

_Roanoke Island_

 _November 6, 2010_

 _Sometime after 00:01_

* * *

The Team arrives at Roanoke Island. They land about a mile from where the source of magic is coming from. They go the rest of the way on foot.

Once they arrive at the source of the magic to find Klarion by himself, except for his cat, of course.

Robin throws his bird-a-rangs and Artemis fires her arrows at the witch boy, who blocks them.

"That's the best you can do?" He says. He sends a bolt of red lightning at the two.

Superboy, Aqualad, and Kid Flash run at him from different directions. Before they can reach him, he creates a barrier, repelling all three of them.

Zatanna steps in front of Superboy. " _Etativel mih ffo eht margatnep!"_ She casts a spell, but it doesn't work.

"Hmph. Baby magic." Klarion says. He casts a spell and flicks his wrist at Zatanna, sending her flying into the air.

"Zatanna!" Ryan starts flying over to catch her - in his normal suit - but Superboy beats him to it.

M'gann uses her telekinesis to throw large rocks at the barrier. Klarion turns to her and breathes fire at her and she flies out of the way.

Kid Flash runs over to Artemis. "Listen, when Fate possessed my body, he defeated Klarion by attacking the cat." He tells her.

"Good." Artemis says, aiming at the cat. "Not the big cat fan, anyway." She fires an arrow at Klarion's familiar. But before the arrow can hit the cat, the Lord of Chaos turns it into a yarn ball.

He snickers. "Show 'em what the familiar to a Lord of Chaos can do, Teekl." He then changes the cat into a saber tooth. Superboy attacks the beast, but he is hit by the cat and sent back a bit.

The Iron Bat starts firing at, and flying around, the barrier. He continues to do this until it annoys the witch boy, who breathes fire at the man in armor. Ryan dodges it.

The crystal in the pentagram starts to glow with blue lightning.

"So, you teamed up with the grown ups?" Klarion says. "Teamwork is _so_ overrated." He uses the lightning from the crystal to attack the Team. Kid Flash speeds out of the way. It sends Artemis and Robin flying. Aqualad is able to withstand it. Ryan is pushed back by it.

"Power is at 300% capacity, sir." ARIAS says.

"Well, how 'bout that?" Ryan says. "Reroute all excess power to the unibeam."

"Yes sir." ARIAS responds.

"Firing in three… two… one… fire!" Ryan fires the unibeam at the barrier.

Klarion raises his hand toward the blast and uses his magic to deflect the blast back at Ryan.

"Fu-" Ryan is cut off by the blast sending him flying. He lands right next to Artemis.

Zatanna runs over. "A-A-Artemis! Robin! Bat!" She says.

"I-I'm good." Ryan says, raising his arm. "I just… I just need to take a breather." His arm flops back down.

" _Temleh fo Etaf, laever flesruoy!"_ Zatanna casts a spell to turn a rock into the Helmet of Fate.

"Are you _sure_ you wanna do that?" Ryan asks without looking.

"How did you-"

"I've known you for five years, Zee. I've picked up on quite a bit of backwards speaking." Ryan says.

"Well… do I really have a choice?" She says.

Ryan ponders on this a minute, sighs, and agrees. He gets up and takes all of his armor off except for his helmet.

"Shazam!" The Team hears Billy yell.

"It's the-" M'gann covers Billy's mouth before he can attract Klarion's attention.

 _Don't shout, Billy. I've linked you telepathically to the others._ M'gann says.

 _That's so cool. I mean, it's the gem, at the center of the pentagram. Destroy it and we win._ Billy says.

"That's all I needed to know." Zatanna says. She picks up the helmet.

Aqualad turns to see Zatanna holding the helmet. "Zatanna!"

"Stop!" Wally yells.

She dons the helmet and becomes Doctor Fate.

"Well, here goes." Ryan says, who, on the other hand, takes the sphere out of his pocket and presses a button. A suit of armor slowly starts to form around him. Once completely formed, Ryan starts to show off the new look. The Magician-Buster armor looks just like a magician's outfit. He pulls at the "bow tie" and takes out a "top hat," pulls a "wand" out of it and puts the hat on. He twirls the wand, throws it in the air, and catches it.

"Really? That's supposed to intimidate me?" Klarion asks.

"Intimidate? No. Stop you? Yes." Ryan says. He starts flying at the barrier. He stops in front of it. "Let's hope this works." Ryan says. He takes the wand and sticks it in the barrier. "Yes!" He then walks through the barrier.

"What?! But, how?!" Klarion asks.

Ryan knocks on his armor. "The armor is made out of nth-metal iron."

"So?" Klarion says.

"So, nth-metal iron nullifies magic." Ryan explains.

While all of this is happening, Fate and the conscious Team members are trying to destroy the barrier. Klarion is also too busy trying to fight Fate to bother trying to stop Ryan, who is too busy seeing what he can do from inside the barrier, knowing he can't take the gem out until the barrier is down, (or at least that's what ARIAS said,) to bother fighting Klarion.

Doctor Fate starts to disappear and reappear.

"Ha! There, see?!" Klarion says. "When the world's divided, the helmet splits, too. You're not _all_ here, Nabu! And you're losing hold of that poor, soon-to-be-dead girl!" He chuckles. "She gave up herself for nothing."

"No, witch-boy." Nabu says. "Fate decrees her sacrifice will not be in vain."

Everyone keeps attacking the barrier.

Klarion starts to break down as the barrier dissipates. "No! No! No! No, no, no, no! N-"

Ryan punches him in the back of the head, knocking him over. "Stop whining, brat."

Fate binds the witch-boy.

"Now, Kid!" Aqualad says.

Kid Flash speeds up and grabs the gem. "Doc! Catch!" He throws the gem to the Lord of Order.

" _Yam eht owt emoceb eno ecno erom!"_ Doctor Fate casts this spell and the worlds merge back into one. Four other sorcerers appear, all adults. They fall over on appearance. The adult heroes also appear.

"Well, they sure don't make evil, immortal sorcerers like they used to, oh well." Klarion says. He snaps and the ankh-binding disappears. "Fun while it lasted. Teekl!"

The cat, who has Superboy pinned down, runs over to Klarion and shrinks back into a regular cat. He jumps into Klarion's arms.

Klarion opens a portal. "See you later, armadillos! Unless I see you first." He snickers as he jumps through the portal.

Wally speeds over to Fate. "Aren't you gonna stop him?"

"To what end?" Nabu says. "Klarion is chaos personified. He cannot be contained."

"'Armadillos?' Why 'armadillos?'" Ryan says.

Wally shrugs.

Robin and Artemis wake up. "Did we win?" Robin asks.

"At a cost." Aqualad says.

Everyone turns to Fate as Giovanni walks up to the Lord of Order. "Fate!" He says. "Great Nabu, release my daughter."

"No." Fate says. "Witnesses have been these last hours. The world needs Doctor Fate, and the girl's affinity for the mystic arts make her the perfect candidate."

"You can't do that!" Artemis says.

"She has her own life to live!" Robin says.

"Kent would never allow you-" Wally starts.

"Kent Nelson did object, strenuously, so I released his spirit to the afterlife." Fate says. "He is gone."

"Take me instead." Zatara says after a short pause. "My skills are already at their peak. My body is physically stronger, better able to withstand the strain of your power."

"All true." Nabu says. "But if I remove the helmet, what guarantee have I that you will don it?"

"My word." Zatara says. " _Ekat em daetsni."_

Nabu lands on the ground and takes the helmet off.

"Dad!" Zatanna says.

"Zatanna!" Giovanni says. They hug each other. Giovanni then breaks the hug. "Remember; I love you." He kisses Zatanna on her forehead, takes the helmet from her, and turns to Batman. "Take care of my girl… and Ryan."

"' _And_ Ryan?!'" Ryan says, offended.

"You have _my_ word." Batman says, ignoring Ryan.

Zatara nods. Robin walks up to Zatanna and attempts to comfort her.

"No, please! This was my fault! Dad, don't! Dad!" Zatanna almost screams.

Zatara dons the helmet and permanently becomes Doctor Fate.

"Leave these to Fate." Nabu says, turning from them. He uses his magic to transport the adult sorcerers to… wherever, probably the Watchtower, maybe the Tower of Fate.

Zatanna falls to her knees and Robin and Ryan are the first ones to comfort her, but Wally and Artemis soon follow.

"Can we leave?" Ryan says after a while. "This place is _really_ depressing and I _really_ need to hit something right about now. I can feel the spirits of the lost colonists[1] around us. Just… _watching_ us."

The Team heads back to the Bioship and the adults - and Captain Marvel - head to… however they got there, probably the Bat-plane. On the Bioship, Robin sits with Zatanna and continues to comfort her.

Ryan decides to close his eyes and rest. It had been a long night.

* * *

 _1_ _Lost Colonists - Britain's first attempt to colonize America was on Roanoke Island. The colonists ended up disappearing. There are many theories as to what happened, but nobody actually knows for sure. (In case you don't remember this from history class.)_

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Be sure to follow, favorite, and review!**


	28. Misplaced - Part Three-And-A-Half

_November 7, 2010_

 _Mount Justice, Rhode Island_

 _9:16 E.S.T._

* * *

M'gann, Artemis, and Robin are helping Zatanna move into her new room in the Cave.

"… and my room is just next door, if you need anything." M'gann says.

"Thanks." Zatanna says. "I, uh… could use a little alone time. Okay?"

"Of course." Artemis says. The three walk out of the room.

Robin stops in the doorway and looks back at Zatanna before leaving.

Ryan is sitting in his room in the Cave when Artemis walks in.

"Hey, how are you doing?" She asks.

"Strangely, I'm doing fine." Ryan says.

"Are you sure?" Artemis says.

"Yeah. I don't know why, though. Maybe it's because he was only my father for a few weeks, but it's still strange." Ryan chuckles. "It's kinda funny, in a grim sort of way. Two fathers gone in less than a month. I mean, Giovanni, technically, isn't dead."

"But, still… nothing?" Artemis scratches her head.

"Well, of course I feel bad for Zatanna. Giovanni was her father for her whole life." Ryan explains.

"Yeah. I can't even begin to imagine. I mean, your father's dead, but… her father _is_ alive. And to see him walking around, possessed by Fate, almost taunting her… it might just drive her mad." Artemis says.

"Yeah." Ryan agrees. He looks at his watch. _8:19._ Ryan thinks to himself. _Nah, after all that had happened… I should at least call her parents to see how she's holding up._ He gets up. "I gotta see about something." He says, aloud. He walks up to Artemis and kisses her on the cheek. He then walks out of the room and to the zeta-tubes.

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6._

* * *

 _Central City, Missouri_

 _8:20 C.S.T._

* * *

Ryan walks into his lab. He had been at the Cave all day the day before, so he never got the chance to put the Magician-Buster back. He heads to Project League-Buster and returns the suit to its place. He then heads to the ground floor.

"ARIAS, contact Maria's parents." Ryan says.

"Yes sir." ARIAS says.

"Hello?" A woman picks up. "Who is this?"

"Hi." Ryan starts. "This is Ryan Thompson. Maria's biological brother."

"Oh, Ryan! Yes, that's right!" She says. "I'm Veronica Ryter. Maria's adoptive mother." The woman says. "I'm very sorry about what happened to your father."

"Thank you." Ryan says. "I just wanted to check to see if Maria is okay after that whole… whatever you wanna call it."

"She was injured badly. If it hadn't been for the Iron Bat and two Boy Scouts, I don't think that she would've survived." Veronica says.

"Really?" Ryan says, rolling his eyes, but glad to hear it. "How is she doing, now?"

"She's at the hospital right now. She'll be there for another week or so." Veronica says. "But she'll be okay. The doctors promised my husband and I that."

"You don't know how much it means to me to hear that." Ryan says. "After everything that's happened… I just couldn't bear the thought of Maria…"

"We're just glad she's okay." Veronica says. "Did you want to come meet her?"

"As much as I want to do that, I don't think now would be a good time." Ryan says.

"I suppose you're right." Veronica says.

"Can you send me a picture of her? My dad never showed me any, before or after he died, so I don't know what she even looks like." Ryan says.

"Of course." Veronica says. "By e-mail?"

"No. Just text it to this number." Ryan says. "Also, can you call me when she's out of the hospital?"

"Sure." Veronica says. "I guess I'll get to meet you when you're ready."

"I guess so." Ryan says. "Until then."

"Until then." Veronica says. She then hangs up.

"Sir, I just received the photo of Maria." ARIAS says after a minute or so.

"Show it to me." Ryan says.

The TV turns on to show the picture of Maria. Along with her scarlet hair, she has blue eyes. She's standing next to two other girls, who Ryan can only assume are her friends.

"Is that Maria?" Ryan spins around to see Dick standing behind him, wearing a jacket and sunglasses, as always.

"What?! How did you-?" Ryan starts. "ARIAS."

"He used the zeta tube, sir." ARIAS says.

"Well how do you know about Mari- Wally." Ryan says. "Wally told you, didn't he?"

Dick just nods.

"Why are you even here?" Ryan asks.

"It's about your uncle." Dick says, taking his sunglasses off. "He's escaped from Arkham."

"Well, you and Batman go and get him." Ryan says, turning the TV off. He heads back over to the elevator, and Dick follows.

"We already looked." The rich boy explains. "He's not in Gotham. We don't know where he is."

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6. Robin B-0-1._

"Something's definitely up, I'll agree with you there." Ryan says, getting into the elevator. "But why are you telling me this?"

"We have reason to believe he's after you." Dick says.

"How do you know?" Ryan says.

"His cell was covered in pictures of you." Dick explains.

"Well, then. I say let him come." Ryan says. "I'll be ready."

"Ryan, you don't know the Joker like Batman and I do. He's unpredictable." Dick says.

"Clearly, otherwise he'd stay in Gotham." Ryan says. The elevator doors open and he walks into his lab.

Dick follows. "What do you think you can do?"

"Win." Ryan says. "He doesn't have any superpowers and I've taken metahumans down."

"Ryan… it's not your fight. Just because he's your Uncle doesn't make him your responsibility." Dick says.

"I know. But, he _is_ my responsibility if he's coming to Central City, and after _me_ specifically." Ryan says.

"Ryan…" Dick starts. "… you're not responsible for anything that's happened. You're not responsible for your father, you're not responsible for Giovanni, you're not responsible for anything. Not even for how Zatanna is feeling."

"But what if I am?" Ryan says. "What if I _could_ have stopped Giovanni from becoming Fate? I was literally _wearing_ the solution! I was _wearing_ nth-metal! But I didn't do anything!"

"It's not your fault." Dick says. "You were in shock. We all were. You weren't thinking clearly."

"I know, but… still… there has to have been something…" Ryan starts, but stops to calm down and think about what Dick had said. "Thanks, Dick."

"No problem." The Boy Wonder smiles. "You should probably go check on Zatanna."

"No, you should." Ryan says. "She needs you more than she needs me."

"Are you sure?" Dick asks.

"One hundred percent. Now go…" Ryan says. Dick walks into the elevator. Just before the doors close, Ryan says, "Lover-Boy Wonder."

Dick's eyes widen and the doors close.

Ryan laughs to himself. "'Lover-Boy Wonder.' That's a good one."

* * *

 _Arkham Island, New Jersey_

 _November 8, 2010_

 _11:24 E.S.T._

* * *

Ryan is at Arkham Asylum in his armor. He walks up to the front gate.

A guard walks up to him. "State your business."

"I'm here to investigate the Joker's escape." Ryan says.

"Batman and Robin didn't find anything, what makes you think you can?" The guard asks.

"Even Batman can overlook a few things." Ryan says.

The guard shrugs and takes his radio. "The Iron Bat's here. He says he wants to investigate the Joker's escape." He says through his radio.

"Let him in." Someone says through their own radio.

The guard opens the gate. Ryan nods in thanks and walks inside. Once inside he finds the Commissioner waiting for him.

"Commissioner." Ryan says.

"Bat." Gordon says. "What is it that you think Batman overlooked?"

"I don't know. I'm here to find out." Ryan says. "Do you know where his cell is?"

Jim nods and leads the way.

Once they arrive, Ryan walks in and looks around to see pictures of the Iron Bat everywhere. "He was certainly obsessed with me."

"We don't know why." Gordon says.

Ryan looks at all of the pictures, then points at one. "That one has a star in its sky, the rest of them don't."

Jim looks. "You're right." He says. "But what could that possibly mean?"

"I don't know." Ryan says. "Is Quinn still here?"

"No, the Joker took her with him." Jim says.

"Hm…" Ryan ponders. "Thanks anyway, Jim."

"Not a problem." Gordon says.

"Oh, and, if you don't mind, can you _not_ tell Batman I was here.

Ryan walks out of the Asylum and zetas to the Cave.

* * *

 _Mount Justice, Rhode Island_

* * *

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6._

Ryan walks out of the zeta-tube. Connor walks over to him.

"Zatanna is doing something… strange." He says.

"Strange… how?" Ryan asks.

"I… it'd be _much_ easier to show you." Connor says.

They walk into the kitchen where Artemis, M'gann, and Kaldur are standing around the room. They then see Zatanna wearing a dazed smile and swinging from side-to-side.

"Ah! I've seen this one time before." Ryan explains. "Well, let's see if this works." He places his hand on Zatanna's head. " _Lepsid eht skcigam ni siht moor dna laever ot em eht eurt noitacol fo Annataz!"_ Ryan casts a spell. Zatanna turns to dust. Ryan closes his eyes. "She's in Key West, Florida. Her favorite place in the U.S." Ryan says.

"You know magic?!" M'gann says.

"That's the only spell I know. Giovanni taught it to me in case this ever happened again." Ryan explained.

"When was this?" Artemis asks.

"A few years ago." Ryan says. "I'll go see what she's up to." He walks to the zeta-tubes.

* * *

 _Key West, Florida_

 _November 8, 2010_

 _11:38 E.S.T._

* * *

 _Recognized. Iron Bat B-0-6._

Ryan walks out of the zeta-transporter. He continues to walk to the pier by the Westin, where he finds Zatanna, sitting on a bench. He sits down next to her.

"Dad and I used to come here every summer." Zatanna says. "We'd stay at the Westin, in the penthouse. Every night we were there, we'd get ice cream from Mattheessen's and sit on this very bench."

"I know." Ryan says. "I came with you last year, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. That's right." Zatanna says with a giggle.

"Hey." Ryan starts. He takes her hand. "I know how hard this is for you. I want you to know that I will always be there for you, even if we aren't together."

"Thanks, Ryan." Zatanna says. "It means a lot."

"No problem, Zee." Ryan says. "We're friends, after all, and what are friends for?"

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Please remember to follow, favorite, and review!**


	29. Origins

**I'd like to note that the Flash that rescued Devin from the rubble in the first flashback chapter, which is Chapter Six - Remembering the Dead, is** _ **not**_ **Barry Allen, but Jay Garrick, instead.**

 **WARNING: This chapter contains death. Read at your own risk.**

* * *

 _Central City, Missouri_

 _November 8, 1996_

 _20:28 C.S.T._

* * *

 _ **Fourteen Years Ago**_

* * *

Devin is running through the hospital halls. He apologizs every time he bumps into somebody, then keeps going. Once he finally reaches his destination, he shouts, "Am I late?!"

"You _just_ missed it, honey." A woman says.

"Dammit!" Devin says. "Mr. Wayne tried to get me here as fast as he could after I told him about the call."

"I'm sure he did." The woman says.

"It's a girl!" The doctor says.

"A girl?" Devin asks. "Well, Shannon, what should we name her?" He says to the woman.

"I've thought long and hard on this, and I love the name…" Shannon starts. "Maria."

"You're not the only one who loves that name." Devin says. "Maria Thompson."

"She has your eyes." Shannon says.

Devin takes a closer look. "She does, doesn't she?" He says. "She has your nose."

* * *

 _March 5, 1997_

 _20:38 C.D.T._

* * *

Shannon is walking home from work and decides to take a shortcut through an alleyway. As she is walking, a man with a bandana covering his mouth and nose jumps out in front of her. He holds a gun aimed at her head.

"Don't move or make a sound." The man says.

"P-P-Please. D-D-D-Don't… Don't hurt me." Shannon says, putting her hands in the air.

"Cooperate and I won't need to." The man says. "Give me all of your money."

Shannon does so. "Please, I have two children." She begs.

The man starts walking away, but stops after a few seconds. "I don't care." He says. He pulls the trigger.

Shannon falls to the ground.

* * *

 _21:13 C.D.T_

* * *

Devin is at home, enjoying some nice, well-deserved leisure time. It had been a long day. There had been an accident at Applied Sciences, resulting in a fire and FDCC coming by. Then… the dreaded beast known as paperwork. Ryan and Maria are asleep upstairs.

There is a knock at the door.

Devin walks over to the door and opens it to find two police officers standing in front of him.

"Are you Devi-" One starts.

"Relax, Joe. This is the guy, this is the place." The other interrupts.

"Hey David." Devin says, smiling. "What can I do for you?"

"You might want to sit for this, Devin." David says.

Devin then sees the grim looks on the men's faces. "Okay… What's going on, David? You're kinda scaring me…" He said as he sits down on the sofa.

The men walk in and sit down on the sofa across from Devin. "We found a dead body in Downtown." David starts to explain.

"If you want help with a homicide, you've certainly come to the wrong man." Devin says.

"That's not what we have to tell you." Joe says.

"Then… what _is_ it?" Devin asks, almost _not_ asking the question.

"Devin…" David starts. "It- It was Shannon."

The look on Devin's face went from concerned to shocked in the blink of an eye. "What?"

"I-I'm sorry." David says.

"Why…? Why? Why? Why? Why?!" Devin says. He starts crying.

David just sits there and waits for Devin to stop crying before saying "The CCPD is working on this. I promise you, we'll find out who's responsible."

"If you need anything, Wayne Enterprises is more than willing to help. You need it and we have it, all I have to do is put a word in with Mr. Wayne, and he'll have it here in no time." Devin says after pulling himself together. "Just find the man responsible."

David nods and stands up. "Come on, Joe. We should get back to the precinct."

Joe gets up and follows David to the door and closes it behind him.

Devin turns the news on.

"Breaking news tonight! Murder on the streets." The anchorwoman says. "We now go to Downtown Central City, where Aaron Smith is on the scene."

"Thanks, Diane." Aaron says. "Tonight at eight forty-six, a gunshot was heard throughout Downtown Central City. Shannon Thompson, wife and mother of two, was shot and killed. The CCPD assures residents that they are working on this case and this case only."

"We don't have any leads, yet, but we're close." An officer says. "We will find the killer and bring him to justice."

"In the meantime, Downtown residents worry for their own safety." Aaron says.

"If there's a killer on the loose, nobody's safe." A resident says. "Hopefully the police catch this man before he finds another victim."

"We all remember when Shannon's husband, Devin, had gone missing, trapped under the rubble of his lab, to be rescued by heroes Zatara and the Flash a month later. Her closest friends and other citizens rose to help her take care of her son, Ryan, and take care of Shannon herself and the baby she was carrying." Aaron goes on. "Now, we remember her as the kind soul who wanted to make the world a better place in anyway she could. This is Aaron Smith reporting live from Downtown Central City. Back to you in the studio."

Devin turns the TV off. He picks up his phone. "Mr. Wayne… Yeah, time off would be nice… Thank you Mr. Wayne." He hangs up and puts the phone down and goes to bed.

* * *

 _March 11, 1997_

 _13:48 C.S.T._

* * *

Devin had just gotten back from Shannon's funeral. He has Ryan in his arms. His phone then starts to ring.

"Hello?" He asks.

"Devin, it's Bruce." Mister Wayne says.

"Mister Wayne. What a surprise! What do you need?" Devin says.

"It's about your time off. I know your wife just died, but you have to go back to work eventually." Bruce says.

"I know, Mr. Wayne, but I still have two kids to take care of, I can't just abandon them. They can't even walk yet. I mean, if I had one kid I'd be fine, but I have two. I have to be home for them, and it's not like I can take them to work with me." Devin says.

"What about a babysitter?" Bruce asks.

"I'm not about to trust a stranger to take care of my kids every day of every week, not right after Shannon's murder." Devin says.

"Then maybe you should put one of them up for adoption if you can't handle taking care of two children." Bruce says.

"What?! You're kidding! How would I that be any safer?" Devin says.

"I'd be willing to adopt one of them." Bruce says.

"Mr. Wayne, with all due respect, I don't exactly think that Gotham is the safest place for one of my children to grow up." Devin explains.

"Well, figure something out, or you might find yourself unemployed." Bruce says, and hangs up.

Devin puts the phone down. He goes upstairs and puts Ryan in his crib and walks over to Maria's crib. He looks at her long and hard as she sleeps. He sighed and nodded. "I don't have a choice. I'm sorry honey." He says to Maria, softly. He leaves the room and goes back to the living room.

He sits down and then takes a voice recorder out of his pocket. He starts recording. "The date is March eleventh, nineteen ninety-seven. Shannon died last week. I swear, nobody should ever have to go through this." He says. "I've tried making this world a better place through my work as a scientist, and I lost my wife and I'm going to have to give my daughter away because I failed doing it that way. Now, it's time I took action in a different way. I will become a beacon of hope for the citizens of this city, _and_ others, like the Flash has become. I will become… a legend." He stops recording and puts the recorder back in his pocket.

He takes his laptop computer and goes onto Yahoo! and searches for people willing to adopt a baby girl. He goes through the results and finds a family that he is interested in. "Hmmm… The Ryters. Let's see…" He reads about them and he likes what he sees. He decides to give them a call.

* * *

 _Star City, California_

 _April 4, 1997_

 _11:39 P.S.T._

* * *

Devin has just left the airport and he is driving to the Ryters' house. He has Maria in the back. He asked a trusted friend to look after Ryan back home. Once he arrives, he gets out of the car and picks up Maria. He walks over to the door and knocks. The door opens and a woman stands there.

"Are you Veronica Ryter?" Devin asks.

"Yes. You must be Devin." The woman says. "Come in."

Devin walks in and sits down.

"And she must be Maria." Veronica says. "Honey! Get in here! Mister Thompson is here!"

A man, who Devin could only assume is Veronica's husband, walks into the room. "Ah. Mister Thompson, nice to meet you. I'm Matt." He puts his hand out.

"Devin." Devin shakes it. "The feeling is mutual."

"Down to business, shall we?" Matt says.

"Indeed." Devin replies. "I just want to make sure that Maria is going to live out the rest of her life in good hands. Ever since my wife died, I've been in a panic just trying to get to work. I can't do her any good, so I figured that somebody else could."

"And we are more than able to raise her safely." Veronica says.

"We'd never even think about hurting her." Matt says.

They go on talking for about an hour before Devin makes his decision: they are perfect.

"Well, I think you're great people and that my daughter would be in great hands if I put her in yours." Devin says. "I think you should be the ones to take care of my daughter."

Veronica and Matt both smile happily at hearing this. "We won't let you down." Matt says.

"You'd better not." Devin says, jokingly.

"We wouldn't even dream of it." Veronica says.

"Good." Devin says. He pulls a flash drive out of his back pocket. "Don't tell her she's adopted until she's ten or eleven years old, then give this to her and tell her it's a message from me, her biological father." He hands it to Matt.

Matt takes it and nods. "No problem."

Devin then takes a long, final look at Maria, who is giggling. Devin smiles. He hands her over to Veronica. "Goodbye, my shining star." He takes a folded piece of paper out of his front pocket. "I've already filled out my part of the paperwork, you just have to fill out everything else." He places it on the coffee table. "Once it's filled out, all you have to do is hand it in to city hall."

"Thank you." Veronica says.

"No, thank you." Devin says. He walks back to the car.

* * *

 _Central City, Missouri_

 _August 12, 1997_

 _11:45 C.S.T._

* * *

Devin is at home on his computer. He is working on his laptop, programming something. He grabs his voice recorder from the table.

"Okay, virtual assistant test number seven. The date is August twelfth, nineteen-ninety-seven. After six failures, I've figured out that the problem might be in the firewalls. Hopefully she works this time." Devin says. He hits the enter key and a voice comes through the laptop's speakers.

"Setup complete. Project ARIAS online. The date is August twelfth, nineteen-ninety-seven. The time is eleven forty-six A.M." The voice says. "What would you like me to call you, sir?"

"ARIAS, you may call me Devin or Mister Thompson." Devin says.

"Of course, sir." ARIAS says.

"ARIAS, pull up the blueprints for Project Legend." Devin says.

"Yes sir." ARIAS says.

The blueprints appear on the laptop's screen. Devin smirks. "This is only the first step. The start of my legacy. Where the legend begins."

* * *

 _May 21, 1998_

 _22:56 C.S.T._

* * *

Devin is working late, but isn't anything for Applied Sciences. It looks like an exo-suit of some sort.

"Mister Thompson, I feel inclined to remind you that you have work tomorrow. You should get some sleep." ARIAS says.

"I'm close ARIAS. I'm _so_ close. Just a few more adjustments." Devin says.

"Sir, you can finish this tomorrow, but for now, I recommend that you get some sleep." ARIAS says.

"I'll be fine, ARIAS. If I need to, I'll call in sick." Devin says.

"Sir, you used that excuse yesterday." ARIAS reminds her creator.

"Just give me a few minutes, then I'll be done." Devin says. He puts his tools down and stands up. "Done. Now, time to test it. ARIAS, activate it."

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says. The suit stands up and walks over to Devin.

"Yes! Umm… Have it walk outside." Devin says, excitedly.

The suit starts walking outside until it stops and catches on fire.

"Dammit!" Devin runs for his fire extinguisher and uses it to put out the fire.

"There was a malfunction in the mainframe, sir." ARIAS says. "Now, please, get some sleep."

Devin sighs. "I suppose you're right." He says. "Record the results of test number fifty-three." He starts walking to his bedroom.

* * *

 _June 29, 1999_

 _21:56 C.D.T._

* * *

Devin is working on the suit again.

"Let's see…" he mumbles to himself. "If I reset the… no, that would change the internal… well, maybe if I reduce the number of… Aha! If I do this, then reset the internal router, that should do the trick!"

"Should I activate the suit, sir?" ARIAS asks.

"Yes." Devin says.

The suit activates and stands up.

"Have it walk outside." Devin says.

The suit walks outside. Devin followed.

"Now, have it fly."

The suit's thrusters activate and it flies off of the ground.

"Fire repulsors."

Repulsors fire out of the suit's hands and hit the ground.

"Yes! It works!" Devin celebrates.

* * *

 _August 26, 2000_

 _21:39 C.D.T._

* * *

Devin is practicing in his suit. Ryan is asleep upstairs. A minute later, Devin hears a large explosion.

"ARIAS?!" He says.

"You should probably check it out, sir." ARIAS says.

Devin nods and flies out of the house. Once outside of the house, he hears another explosion, this one followed by screaming. He flies in the direction of the explosion. Once he arrives, he finds a gigantic robot attacking the city.

"Well, that's original." Devin says. He then notices a man walking out of his house, magician's wand in hand. "Giovanni."

"Sir, you can reintroduce yourself later. For now, giant robot destroying the city?" ARIAS says.

"Right, right." Devin says. He flies at the robot and starts shooting it with his repulsors.

"Sir, this robot doesn't have anyone controlling it, at least, not from the inside." ARIAS says.

"Good to know." Devin says. "Let's see… increase energy concentration in the repulsors by… five percent."

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says.

Devin continues to attack the robot with stronger repulsor blasts. "ARIAS, find me some weak points."

"'Find some weak points for me,' sir. Proper grammar." ARIAS says. Devin scoffs. "Found some in the knee joints. Marking them now."

"Good." Devin starts shooting at the weak points. The fight continues on like this for about a minute. Then some of the robot's plating starts to fall off. "ARIAS, is it weak enough for the unibeam to finish it off?"

"I believe so, sir." ARIAS says.

"Redirect all weapons' power to the unibeam." Devin says.

"Redirecting… done." ARIAS says.

"Fire!" The unibeam fires out of Devin's chest. The unibeam hits the robot and destroys it. Devin lands back on the ground. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

"HEY! YOU!" A man calls.

"He's angry…" Devin says in a singsong voice.

"Good luck, sir." ARIAS says.

Devin turns to Zatara.

"Watch where you fight! You could've killed all of those innocent people!" The magician says.

"You're right, I could've. That is, if you hadn't been there." Devin says.

"Who are you, anyway?" Zatara says.

"I am the Iron Legend. And I think I'd like to continue this conversation somewhere else." Devin says.

The two men walk into an alleyway. "The League isn't going to be happy with you!" Zatara said.

"I knew you had my back, Giovanni, just like you did two years ago." Devin says. He takes his helmet off to reveal his face to the magician.

"Devin?" Zatara says in shock.

"Yep! It's me!" Devin says.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Another flashback. This gives the Iron Legend's origin story. Please remember to follow, favorite, and review!**


	30. Coldhearted - Part One

_Mount Justice, Rhode Island_

 _November 11, 2010_

 _15:52 E.S.T._

* * *

Ryan walks over to the TV room of the Cave. He finds decorations strung up around the room.

 _Right, it's Wally's birthday._ He thinks to himself. Dick and Connor walk in.

"Hey Ryan!" Dick says.

"Hey, Rob." Ryan says. "Connor." He nods at the Kryptonian, who grunts in reply.

Ryan walks over to the sofa and sits down. The rest of the Team, except for Wally, obviously, the Flash, and Red Tornado walk in.

Zatanna walks over to Ryan and sits down next to him.

"How are you holding up?" Ryan whispers to her.

"Does it get any easier?" She asks.

Ryan thinks about his words carefully, not wanting to lie, but,at the same time, not wanting to upset his best friend. "Yeah, a little. Not much, but it does get a little better." He responds.

"When?"

"I suppose it depends on how close you were to the person that was lost."

 _Recognized. Kid Flash B-0-3. Zeta-tube network now offline due to extreme atmospheric conditions._

Everyone stands in the middle of the room.

"ARIAS. Lights out." Ryan whispers. The lights turn off.

Wally walks into the room.

"It'd be a shame to miss my own…" Wally starts saying to nobody in particular.

The lights turn back on.

"Surprise!" Everyone except for Red Tornado and Connor yell.

"Whaaaat?! Oh, you guys! You shouldn't have!" Wally says.

"He's a horrible actor." Ryan comments to Connor, who smirks at this. Ryan notices and takes it as a personal victory.

"Riiight. Not like you've been hinting for daaays or anything." Robin says.

The Team gets down to the festivities.

"I made two cakes." M'gann says.

"Awesome! What'll you guys eat?" Wally says.

"We'll split the cupcake. Make a wish." M'gann says.

"Way ahead of you." Wally says. He blows out the candles and everyone except for the Flash, Connor, Artemis, and Red Tornado clapped. "You know, if I tell you my wish, it won't come true. But if you guess…"

M'gann hands him a slice of cake.

"Nope. Guess again." Wally says.

M'gann kisses Wally on his forehead. "Happy Birthday."

Ryan and Artemis both smirk at this.

Robin and Ryan both walk over to Zatanna, both with cake.

"You… settling in okay?" Robin asks her, offering the cake he had.

"Oh, yeah. Just like home." Zatanna says, literally taking the cake.

"I know this is all very new and intimidating, but I promise you that someday… you'll get used to watching Wally eat." Robin says.

Zatanna and Ryan both smirk at the Boy Wonder. Artemis walks over to them.

"Should we tell him?" She says.

They all look at Wally.

"You're getting warmer, Babe. But, I can make you warmer still." He says to M'gann.

"He _is_ the only one who doesn't know." Robin says.

"Then please, allow me." Artemis says. She walks over to the redhead and whispers to him. He looks to see M'gann feeding Connor cake.

"Aw… man!" He says.

Batman comes on the PA system. "Attention Team. Suit up. Polar stealth. Mission briefing in five." He says. "You too, Ryan."

"Yes! Back on the Team!" Ryan says, triumphantly. "Polar stealth… ARIAS, do I have that?"

"Yes sir." ARIAS says.

Ryan's belt turns white.

"Okay, I gotta admit, that's pretty frikin' cool." Ryan says after putting his armor on. "Heck, I didn't even know that I programmed it into the suit." He flies into the command room and retracts his visor.

"You didn't, sir. I did at your father's request." ARIAS says.

"Makes sense." Ryan shrugs.

* * *

"Where's Flash?" Wally asks once everyone's there.

"Flash and Red Tornado already have their assignments." Batman says. "A massive ice storm has paralyzed North America from coast to coast. Satellite imagery has detected five flying… ice fortresses, source unknown, which seem to be responsible and must be stopped."

"Well, can't the Watchtower blow them out of the sky or something?" Wally asks.

Batman sighs. "The League's orbiting headquarters is not weaponized. And with both Green Lanterns off world, we need all hands on deck."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Robin asks, stepping forward. "The League and Team working side-by-side?"

"Whoa! Really?!" Wally says.

"Superboy, use the Supercycle to rendezvous with the Batplane at Ice Fortress One. You'll drop off Robin and Aqualad, then continue on with Wolf to meet up with Black Canary and Red Tornado at Ice Fortress Two." Batman says. "Miss Martian, Artemis, and Zatanna, take the Bioship and rendezvous with Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter. Iron Bat, join them for the ride, but rendezvous with Doctor Fate and…" He trails off when he sees the sharp, cold glare – which is almost good enough to rival his own – that Ryan gives him. He then looks at Zatanna to see her frowning. "I understand the tension between the two of you, but that shouldn't get in the way of protecting the world, so you'll rendezvous with Doctor Fate and Captain Marvel at Ice Fortress Four." He says, sternly.

Ryan just scoffs.

"Other Leaguers will deal with Ice Fortress Five. Sending all coordinates now." Batman says.

"Uh… Batman? I think you skipped-" Wally starts.

"Kid Flash." Batman starts. "A young girl in Seattle is in desperate need of a heart transplant. With all conventional air traffic grounded by the storm, you'll need to pick up the donor heart in Boston and run it three thousand miles across country."

"Who is this girl?!" Wally asks, clearly stressed out.

"Does it matter?" Batman asks.

"No… of course not… but… can't we zeta-" Wally starts.

"Zeta-tubes are offline." Robin says. "Sorry."

"Right, then, how can I say 'no?'" Wally says. "Guess I won't be needing stealth." He presses on his insignia and his suit returns to its regular yellow-and-red layout. "Speedy delivery boy, at your service."

"Go to the hangar and get ready." Batman says.

Everyone heads to the hangar. Ryan walks over to Wally. "Some birthday, huh?"

"Tell me about it." Wally says. "Missing the first ever League-Team-team-up."

"Hey, just think about it this way…" Ryan starts. "Roy's missing it, too."

Wally gives a sad smile. "Yeah, that's true."

"Hey, we're heroes because we want to save everyone we can, not so we can do everything we want." Ryan says.

"Yeah, I know, but it still stinks." Wally says.

"Look, I gotta go. See you on the other side." Ryan says. With that, he flies into the Bioship.

"Okay, let's go." M'gann says once everyone's seated and strapped in. She starts piloting the Bioship to the third ice fortress.

"Sir, Batman is contacting you." ARIAS says.

"Put him through." Ryan says. "What is it, Dark Knight?"

"I want you to monitor Kid Flash. I have a feeling he might get distracted." Batman says.

"You got it, Bats." Ryan says.

"What was that?" M'gann asks.

"Batman wants me to monitor Wally. Make sure he doesn't get distracted." Ryan explains.

"Good idea on his part, we all know how Kid Mouth can get sidetracked." Artemis snickers.

"He's approaching the border of Rhode Island and Massachusetts now, sir." ARIAS says after about a half-hour.

"Good to know. Patch me through to him." Ryan says. "You there, KF?"

"Yeah, what is it? Do you need me?" Wally asks, hopeful.

"Sorry, Walls, but no. Batman just wanted me to monitor you, make sure you don't get distracted." Ryan explains.

"Oh, c'mon!" Wally says.

"Anyway, you're making good progress and coming up on the border of Massachusetts." Ryan says.

"Good. Maybe I can make it before all of the ice fortresses are gone." Wally says.

Ryan laughs at this. "Well, I wish you good luck with that."

"Approaching Ice Fortress Three. Ryan, get ready for launch." M'gann says.

"Got it." Ryan says. "Gotta go KF. Good luck."

"And to you." Wally says.

Ryan gets out of his seat. He stands in the center of the ship. A harness forms around him and he falls through a hole in the floor. M'gann speeds up the Bioship, then the harness releases Ryan, giving him a speed boost that dies out when he's about a quarter of the way to Ice Fortress Four.

"Sir, Kid Flash has arrived at the hospital. He has four hours to get the heart to Seattle." ARIAS says.

"Good to know. Alert me if anything unexpected happens." Ryan says.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Remember to favorite follow and review!**


	31. Coldhearted - Part Two

_November 11, 2010_

* * *

Ryan arrives at Ice Fortress Four about half an hour later. He sees Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, and Green Arrow fighting. He flies in and starts firing his repulsors at the fortress. Oliver takes notice.

"Ryan, you're here. Good." He says.

"You bet I am!" Ryan says. "Let's do this."

Ryan flies over by Captain Marvel to help him out. "So, how's Zatanna fitting in?" Captain Marvel asks. He punches a turret.

"Well, Robin and I are keeping her company. We're the only two on the Team who have experience in the 'dead parents' department." Ryan says. He dodges a beam headed his way.

"I really feel bad for her. I mean, he's not actually _dead_." Captain Marvel says, motioning his head to Doctor Fate, who has just destroyed a turret.

"On your six!" Ryan warns, at which Captain Marvel spins around and punches a flying drone behind him. "And that's what makes it worse." Ryan says.

"Sir, Kid Flash has gone off course. You should check in with him." ARIAS says.

"Thanks for the update ARIAS. Give me a second, Cap." Ryan says. Captain Marvel nods. "KF, you're off course, what happened?"

"Got a little distracted, gotta take a small detour." Wally says.

"That's fine, just make it as short as you can, and make sure you pay attention." Ryan says, firing at another turret.

"Yeah, sure. Kid Flash out." Wally says.

"What happened?" Captain Marvel asks.

"Kid Flash got distracted and went off course." Ryan explains.

"Ah…" The Captain says.

Ryan fires a repulsor at a drone behind Wonder Woman, destroying it. "ARIAS, find me a weak-point."

"'Find a weakness for me,' sir. Proper grammar." ARIAS says.

"Didn't you do that–" Ryan starts.

"To your father? Yes, sir." ARIAS says. "I found one sir. Although, it's not very weak at all. It is the weakest spot I could find, but it's very strong. It will take a while to get through it." A section of the Fortress is highlighted on Ryan's visor.

"That's not good. How far has Kid Flash gotten?" Ryan asks.

"Kid Flash has gotten back on course and is currently in southwestern South Dakota." ARIAS says.

"Good, keep me updated." Ryan says. _Let's see… that weak-point is definitely strong, like,_ really _strong. It's going to take a lot of force to break into. Jeez…_ Ryan thinks to himself as he continues to fight.

"Sir, for some reason, Kid Flash has… stopped." ARIAS says after two minutes of Ryan thinking and fighting.

"What?! Contact him." Ryan says. "Kid Idiot, what's going on?! You stopped!"

"Nice to hear from you, too, IB." Wally quips, at which Ryan rolls his eyes. "I'm fighting Vandal Savage."

"Forget him! Get that heart to Seattle!" Ryan says.

"No can do, iBat. He was attacking law enforcement when I ran into him." Wally says.

Ryan sighs. "ARIAS, how long will it take for the Speedster-Buster to get to his location?"

"By foot, twenty-five minutes." ARIAS says.

"No, no, that's too long. The heart will never make it in time. Are the Speed-Thrusters ready?" Ryan asks.

"Yes sir. If I know where you're going with this, the suit will make it to Kid Flash's location in fifteen minutes by air with the Speed-Thrusters." ARIAS says.

"Excellent. Can you hold out for that long, KF?" Ryan says.

"Probably. See you." Wally says.

"ARIAS, you know what to do." Ryan says.

"Yes, sir." ARIAS says.

"Now, back to that weak point…" Ryan says.

"Sir, perhaps if you have Doctor Fate use his magic on the weak point, it will weaken further, in which case Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman can see what they can do to break through it." ARIAS suggests.

"There's one flaw with that plan." Ryan says.

"Sir, you know that Batman is right. Your personal grudge should not get in the way of saving the world."ARIAS says.

Ryan sighs. "Yeah, I know." He says. "Nabu! Over here!"

Doctor Fate levitates over to Ryan. "What is it?"

Ryan points to the weak point. "That is the weakest spot on this entire fortress, but it's _really_ strong. I was wondering if you could weaken it with your 'hocus-pocus.'"

"My magic is much more advanced than what you might call 'abracadabra,' so don't underestimate my power." The Lord of Order says.

"Yeah, uh-huh. Can you weaken it or not?" Ryan says, sternly.

Fate doesn't say anything, but he turns to the weak point. He casts a spell and a few small cracks in the wall. "That's as much as I can weaken it." Nabu states plainly.

Captain Marvel flies over and starts attacking the wall, trying to break through it.

Ryan covers him, firing at anything that tries to attack the Captain.

"Sir, the Speedster-Buster has arrived at Savage's location." ARIAS says.

"Good." Ryan says.

* * *

 _Location services offline due to extreme atmospheric conditions_

* * *

The Speedster-Buster arrives to find that Kid Flash is still fighting Savage. The armor flies into Savage, using its new Speed-Thrusters to give it a boost. This sends Savage flying.

The suit turns to Wally. "Go, Kid Flash!" ARIAS says.

Wally nods. "Good luck." He runs off toward Seattle.

Savage gets up. "Well, what do we have here?"

"The Iron Bat sends his apologies for not being here in person. He has to attend to destroying one of the ice fortresses. Your doing, I assume?" ARIAS says.

"You got me." Vandal says.

"But why? What could you possibly gain from covering the entire country in snow?" ARIAS asks.

"A story for another time. For now, I must be going. Farewell." The immortal says. He starts to walk away.

The suit charges into him, knocking him to the ground. "Aw… don't leave so soon. We've only just met." ARIAS says. "The Iron Bat would have said something similar to that."

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." Vandal says after getting up. "But not right now." Vandal throws down a smoke bomb, which disorients the suit's systems. When the smoke clears, Savage is gone.

* * *

 **That's the chapter! Sorry it took so long! Please remember to favorite, follow, and review!**


	32. Coldhearted - Part Three

_November 11, 2010_

* * *

Ryan flies around, shooting at turrets and drones. "Cap, what kind of progress are you making on that wall?!" He asks.

"Slow. I'm getting close, though, I can feel it!" Captain Marvel says as he continues to pound into the wall of the fortress.

"Give it all you've got!" Ryan says.

"Strength of Hercules! Power of Zeus!" Captain Marvel cries out. He starts hitting harder.

Ryan, adding his own firepower to the Captain's efforts, fires two missiles at the wall. This weakens the wall further.

" _Shazam!"_ Captain Marvel calls. Lightning strikes, but instead of striking him, he dodges it and the lightning strikes the wall, breaking a hole into it.

"Nice!" Ryan says. He files inside.

"Sir, it seems that if you take out all of the support structures, the fortress will collapse in on itself and fall into the water below us." ARIAS says.

"Thanks ARIAS." Ryan says. "Cap, destroy all of the support structures."

"You got it!" The Captain says. "Speed of Mercury!" He starts going a bit faster, destroying all of the supports. He and Ryan fly out of the fortress as it falls into the body of water below them.

"ARIAS, tell the Dark Knight that Ice Fortress Four is down." Ryan says.

"Yes sir. Also, I can no longer track Kid Flash due to the weather, but by this point, I calculate that he should have made it to the hospital in Seattle by now. If you want to head over there, now would be a good time." ARIAS says.

"I like that idea." Ryan says. And with that, he flies off.

* * *

 _Location services back online_

 _Seattle, Washington_

 _November 12, 2010_

 _18:02 PST_

* * *

Ryan arrives at the hospital to find Kid Flash running through the glass door. Ryan flies in behind him.

"Take it! Go!" Wally says to on one of the doctors, handing him the heart.

"Right. Right!" The doctor says, turning around to run to the elevator. "Transplant team to OR two, stat!"

Ryan lands next to Wally, who is kneeling on the floor. "Hey, you okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm…" Wally starts before falling over.

"Uh… is there a doctor in the house?" Ryan says as people gather around. "Because if there isn't, I'd be _very_ disappointed."

A doctor and a nurse walk over and the doctor takes a look at Wally. "Get him to ER two-fourteen." He says to the nurse, who nods and grabs a stretcher, putting Wally on it with the help of another nurse, and rolling him into the elevator. The doctor turns to Ryan. "He'll be fine. He has accelerated healing, right?"

Ryan nods.

The doctor nods back. "We won't take the mask off. You should head back to Central City, Iron Bat."

"No. Kid Flash is my friend. I'm not leaving this hospital until I see that he's okay." Ryan says.

"After our doctors see to his wounds. Until then, fix the door that your friend broke." The doctor points to the shattered glass door.

"I'll see to it that it gets paid for." Ryan says. He walks over to one of the benches and sits down. He sees Count Vertigo walk in a minute later, appearing to be very worried. Ryan gets up and walks over to him. When the Count's men notice Ryan, they go for their guns, which are in their holsters. Count Vertigo holds his hand up, making them stop.

"He's not about to start a fight in the middle of a hospital, and neither am I." Vertigo says.

"You know me so well, I'm flattered." Ryan says. "What are you doing here, Vertigo?"

"Visiting my niece. I'm very worried about her. She's getting a heart transplant here. Your friend, Kid Flash had to run the heart from Boston. I just hope he made it in time." Vertigo says.

"Right, _worried_." Ryan says. "But what I meant was, what are you doing _not in jail?_ "

"I have diplomatic immunity." Vertigo says with a grin. "Unless crimes against the crown are proven against me, which I have never committed, I have a, what you might call, a 'get out of jail free card.'"

"I swear, I just want to blast you in that smug face of yours, sometimes. Just for the satisfaction of it." Ryan says.

The Count laughs at this. "Go ahead! See what happens."

"Nah. I think I'll pass." Ryan says.

"Well, until later." Vertigo says. He continues walking, but is stopped at the elevator by a doctor. The doctor says something and Vertigo turns around and leaves.

Ryan walks back to his seat. An hour later, a doctor walks over to him. "Your friend is asking for you." She says.

"Thank you." Ryan says. He walks to the elevator, following the doctor. They arrive at room two-fourteen. He walks in to see Wally lying on the bed there, mask still on. "Well, well, KF. You seem pretty banged up, there."

"Vertigo tried to stop me from getting the heart to the doctors. The Ice Fortresses were to stop any conventional means of getting the heart from Boston to Seattle. Vandal Savage was only there to distract me." Wally explains. "The Count was behind everything."

"Yeah, I figured that out when he told me he was 'worried' about his niece." Ryan says.

"He's here?" Wally asks.

"He left after I talked to him." Ryan explains.

"Good. That means that he doesn't know that the operation was a success." Wally says.

"It was?" Ryan says.

"Yeah. Perdita's in recovery." Wally says.

"Good. Good." Ryan says. "Wait… if Vertigo finds out…"

"He'll make an attempt on her life." Wally says.

Ryan nods. "Unless we figure something out."

"Which is why I was thinking about this before I asked for you." Wally says.

"Really? What plan have you come up with?" Ryan says.

Wally explains his plan to Ryan.

"A great plan, KF. Just one problem." Ryan says. "How are we going to hide the Queen from the Count?"

"The same way I've been hiding from you." A girl's voice says.

"She's behind the curtain, isn't she?" Ryan says.

Wally nods.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Ryan says.

Wally swings the curtain open. Ryan sees the young Queen Perdita with two bodyguards behind her. "And to you, Iron Bat." She says.

Ryan bows as much as he can in his restricting suit, which isn't much at all.

"Please, you can skip the formalities." Perdita says.

"Good, because this is as far as I can bow." Ryan says before standing up straight. "So, I'll go tell one of the doctors to tell the public that Her Majesty died on the operating table." Ryan says to Wally.

Wally nods.

Ryan walks out of the room. He finds the doctor who directed him to Wally's room. "Excuse me, ma'am."

The doctor turns to Ryan. "Yes, Iron Bat?" She says.

"I want the hospital to release to the media that Queen Perdita died on the operating table, despite the best efforts of Kid Flash and a team of transplant surgeons." Ryan says.

"But, why?" The doctor asks, puzzled.

"Because Kid Flash and I believe that Her Majesty's uncle, Count Vertigo, will make an attempt on her life if he knows that she is alive." Ryan explains.

"Fair enough." The doctor agrees after thinking on it for a minute or so. "I'll see to it."

"Thank you." Ryan says.

The doctor walks away. Ryan walks back into the room. "Well, that's taken care of. I'm gonna stay here for the night. You're not exactly in the best condition, KF, and while I know that your Majesty's bodyguards are very well-trained, Count Vertigo is not a threat to be taken lightly." He says.

The Queen nods in agreement, but Kid Flash complains. "I'm perfectly fine! Accelerated healing, remember?!"

Ryan smirks. "I honestly just want to blast him in his smug face."

"Fair enough." Wally says.

* * *

"It's called 'regicide.'"

"It's called 'you're busted, Jerkface!'" Wally says as he throws the curtain aside, revealing Queen Perdita, her bodyguards, and the Iron Bat. "I believe you know Queen Perdita."

"No…" Count Vertigo says, in disbelief.

"ARIAS, play the audio file." The Iron Bat says.

" _It's called 'regicide.'"_ A recording of the Count is played.

"Count Werner Vertigo. As Queen of Vlatava, I hereby accuse you of high treason against the crown and revoke your diplomatic immunity." Perdita says.

Vertigo draws a sword from his cane. "NO!" He goes to attack the young monarch as the Iron Bat fires a repulsor beam at his face. The Queen's bodyguards rush in to subdue the former Count.

"It seems that you've lost your Get-out-of-jail-free-card, Vertigo, and you're headed straight for jail! Do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars." The Iron Bat says.

Kid Flash walks out of the bed, holding his IV. "Send this clown to Belle Reve."

"Didn't I just say that? Just in a more vague way, I suppose…" The Iron Bat says.

"Well played, children. Admittedly well played. This round goes to you." Vertigo says as the bodyguards pull him out of the room. "And please, by all means, allow the victory to go to your heads."

Kid Flash grabs Vertigo's sword and puts it back in its cane-scabbard. He walks over to Queen Perdita.

"Thank you. Your plan worked perfectly." The young monarch says.

"Well, when I woke up and found you in recovery, I knew Vertigo would make another attempt on your life, unless, 'A,' he thought you were dead, and, two, he lost that darn immunity and was sent away for good." Kid Flash says. He offers Perdita the sword.

The Queen shakes her head. "That sword is an heirloom belonging to my country, not to the Count. I would be pleased for you to have it as a reward or as a souvenir." She says, smiling.

The Iron Bat pretends to clear his throat.

Perdita giggles. "And thank you, too, Iron Bat. I'm sure you helped Kid Flash on his journey here from Boston."

"You are more than welcome, Your Highness." The Iron Bat says.

Kid Flash smiles, holding the sword. "You take it, Your Highness. I have a better souvenir for this mission. Besides, if it's an heirloom belonging to your Country, it should stay in your country."

* * *

 **Okay guys, I'm sorry it's been a long time, but I have news so READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE! I am going to be putting this fic on an official hiatus so that I can work on other stories. I mean, really, this story has thirty-two chapters! This is the** _ **longest**_ **story I've written. I am going to be working on my other stories for other fandoms. I** _ **might**_ **write a chapter or so from time to time, but I'm not promising anything. I have no idea when I'm going to end this hiatus, but it won't be anytime soon. Until then, I'll see you around everyone.**


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